by Jesse Grey
"When I was fifteen, I started dating this guy, my best friend who was a grade higher than I was, and I fell in love with something besides Manhattan and photography for the first time. Everything was finally perfect. So, we got carried away one night and…” Mercer’s eyes widened as he silently connected the fragments. “Nine months later, Bryce was born.” She paused, willing the tears and sobs to stay away from the surface of her emotions. “I always loved the name, but it just made everything so much harder, attaching a name to what happened.”
“Oh my god, Kirby.” He held her hand even tighter, a tightrope begging to snap. “What happened?”
“I did the only thing I could. I gave him up for adoption.” No longer able to keep them in check, tears flowed from her eyes like a forgotten hose. “To this amazing couple in New Jersey, Priscilla and Nathan. As much as I loved it in Manhattan, knowing he was just across the water ate away at me for months. So we left New York and found a school in Maine that not only had a nursing job there for my mom but one that also accepted me after the school year had started.” Her sobs took over then, shaking her frame to the point that Mercer felt vibrations in his hand as he held hers. “I know I made the right decision, but I can’t help but thinking what if.”
Mercer watched as she cried, breaking his heart in every way im-aginable. She sobbed heavily, holding onto his hand like her life would slip away if she let her fingers do the same. “You miss him.” he said obviously.
She nodded. “It’s so hard knowing there’s a piece of me out there that I don’t know, which is crazy because it doesn’t hurt me that my dad is alive somewhere not giving a shit about me, but—”
“It’s different.” he agreed, earning a small smile from her as she tried to gain control over her violent shudders.
“Yeah.” she sniffled.
“What about the guy, your ex?”
“He stayed in Manhattan, as far as I know. That’s part of what makes this week so hard,” She wiped away the drying tears on her face. “He helped me try and come to terms with everything, but in the end it was just too much. When we moved, his mother thought it would be best for both of us if we lost contact entirely, and my mom agreed on some level because we changed our phone numbers before my first day of school in Maine. The only person who gets this, can’t even find me anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, Kirby. Honestly, I would have never known that you were carrying this around.”
Sniffling again, she just shook her head. “I can’t help but wonder if I was selfish in giving him up or if I really did it for him and not just myself. That phone call the other day? That was Priscilla, asking if I wanted to see him for his birthday. I’m trying so hard to put that part of my life behind me, but I can’t seem to, no matter how hard I push myself.”
“You don’t know if you want to see him?” Mercer asked, a little surprised.
“If I see him, I’ll want him back, regardless of what it would do to my life.” she cried. “I know Priscilla and Nathan are giving him the best chance at an amazing life, the life he deserves, but I wish I could know that he really is happy.”
“Hey,” Mercer stroked her face before returning his hand to her own. “I’m sure he’s happy. You’re talking to the product of adoption right here, remember? I was adopted when I was barely a year old myself. I wouldn’t trade my life with my dads for anything.”
She scoffed. “You’re not just saying that in an attempt to make me feel better?”
He shook his head, eviscerating her question. “Seriously. Sure, I wonder about my birth parents sometimes like any other adopted kid, but my dads chose me, you know? Out of all the kids in the world, they chose me. It makes me feel special everyday knowing that.” He shook her hand, staring into her eyes. “Trust me, he’s not holding a grudge. He’s doing great. Plus, he’s a year old. Eating, sleeping, making messes that other people have to clean up. He’s living the dream.”
Kirby actually laughed with him, clutching his hand and rubbing his knuckles with her fingertips. “There’s so much more that I should tell you, Mercer. About why we left Maine and ended up in Armor Falls.”
“Not right now you don’t.” he stated. “You can tell me when you’re ready. We gotta have something to talk about on our second date as an official couple.”
Smiling again, Kirby tilted her head, the setting sun vibrantly displaying her features in a whole new light that Mercer felt was overwhelming in the best way possible, like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. She clutched his hand, letting her grip wane. “A second date, huh? So you’re not totally freaked out by The Trials and Tribulations of Kirby Wheaton?”
“Are you kidding? If having a complicated life was the deciding factor for dating, I’d never step foot in a restaurant again for the rest of my life.” They both laughed briefly. “And, I like to think that The Trials and Tribulations of Kirby Wheaton would mesh pretty well with The Attempted Murder of Mercer Meadows.”
Grinning again, Kirby leaned in and kissed Mercer softly at first, mainly due to the latter’s shock at the sudden shift in dynamic. But their kiss grew in intensity while still remaining innocent and rela-tively calm, both of them reveling in the other’s touch. When they separated, Mercer looked at her in amazement, chuckling to himself.
“What was that for?”
“We can’t have a second date, especially as a real couple, without first sharing a kiss.”
“True, considering Alex totally ruined my attempt the first time out in the quad.”
“Oh, you were actually going to make a move?” she laughed.
“I’ve still got plenty.” He laughed, placing his hand on her face as he brought her in for another kiss.
Kirby smiled into it, though the kiss was much quicker than the first, as it went from a kiss to a tight hug that he must have known she needed, each holding onto the other with mighty vigor. Because they knew that together, rather than alone, they could conquer any demons that decided to break through the darkest places in their lives, whether they be past, present, or future.
Bridge heard a rustling within his room, which was the Meadows’ guest room, stirring him out of slumber. Though a little groggy, he looked frantically around the room for the culprit behind the noise. That’s when he saw that it was Ben, and he was pulling the window in his room up.
“Ben!” he scalded in a rushed whisper, trying to keep as quiet as possible so that he didn’t wake Mercer’s parents, or worse, Mercer himself.
Finally getting the window open, Ben stepped inside and quickly pulled it back down after stepping into Bridge’s bedroom.
“What the hell are you doing here!? We’re done doing…whatever it was, and you come in here, a house that isn’t mine, and you—”
Ben put up a hand, walking over to Bridge until he was right next to the bed, taking a seat on the soft queen sized mattress.
“Ben—”
He shushed him by putting a finger up to his lips, giving him a sly grin, recalling words that Bridge had spoken to him before when they had ended things, deciding to use them against him now. “No more talking.”
He slammed his lips against Bridge’s, the younger man caught off guard by the act. But when Ben started ripping off his shirt, Bridge took the opportunity to rip off his own boxer briefs before throwing Ben down on the bed, climbing on top of him as he resumed their kiss, giving in to all the passion between them and forgetting about pending weddings and things standing in the way of what he wanted and gave in to the pure, animalistic lust that throbbed within his body. As he helped Ben out of the rest of his clothes, Ben begged for more as his tongue invaded Bridge’s mouth, their raw desire fading into the late hour of the night.
13
INTO THE DEPTHS
Wake up, B.”
Bridge was shaken awake from a generously dreamless sleep, not really registering exactly where he was until he opened his eyes and saw Mercer’s wide smile beaming down on him like some sort of pearly spotlight
.
“You gotta start getting ready, unless you want to be late.”
Then, like a crescendo of crackling fire-edged memories, last night came back to Bridge in short bursts of light and movement behind his dark eyes. He sat up in his bed with newfound haste, turning to see if Ben was still there, but was met with the usual empty sheets.
“You okay?” Mercer’s question reminded Bridge that he was still there, looming over him with curling eyebrows of curiosity.
“Yeah,” he grunted back. “I just need some coffee.”
Mercer nodded. “Kirby brought some.” With that, his smile grew like a praised puppy. “She’s downstairs in the kitchen.”
“Kirby, huh?” Bridge grinned, stretching his joints in an attempt to seem at ease rather than wondering what in the hell had happened to Ben, not really wanting to think that he left in the middle of the night. “You weren’t lying when you said that you guys made up.” he forced himself to say.
“Nope.” Mercer lit up like the night sky on the Fourth of July. “I’m officially a taken man.”
Bridge laughed, patting Mercer’s hand. “Congrats, Merce.”
“Thanks. Better hit the shower.” Bridge nodded at his request as his best friend walked out of his bedroom and presumably to the kitchen to guzzle down some caffeine with Kirby.
Sighing at the fact that Ben probably had left in the middle of the night, Bridge threw off his beds’ blankets and walked down the hall in his boxers to the bathroom that he shared with Mercer. But when he opened up the door, the bathroom wasn’t exactly empty.
Ben was standing over the toilet, sleepily relieving himself while Bridge ran into the room and closed the door with great emergent reflexes.
“Ben!”
He noticed Bridge lazily, like he was looking at him through a discarded kaleidoscope, flushing the toilet as he finished before lightly rubbing his ass through his hot pink boxer briefs. “You went a little too rough last night. My ass hurts.”
“You have to go!” Bridge bellowed, ignoring Ben’s sore muscle issues and struggling to keep his voice down. “Mercer and Kirby are still here.”
Ben’s eyes grew like pesky weeds in a garden, like the previous fog was lifted and it suddenly hit him what kind of situation they were in. “Damn. Bridge, we have to talk about last night.”
“Yeah, yeah, we will, but right now you need to get the hell out of here.”
“But—”
“Not now. Out the window.”
He looked at the window and then at his body, which was com-pletely devoid of clothing, except for his hot pink boxer briefs. “Please tell me that’s an attempt at early morning humor.”
“I’m not risking you being seen, now go.”
Sighing, Ben lifted the bathroom window as quietly as possible as he went to hop out but turned back to face Bridge one last time, a seductive grin on his face. In a quick blur, Ben grabbed Bridge’s face and pulled him into a fast but intense lust filled kiss that Bridge smiled into, lightly pushing him away.
“Go.” he laughed.
Ben laughed too, hoping none of the neighbors were watching as he climbed out of the bathroom. Bridge chuckled even more as he spectated the hilarious display of a naked Ben running through near-by backyards to avoid being seen by anyone who cared to notice.
Alex laughed, a genuine deep laugh that he hadn’t done in a while, as his dad told him a story about some of his co-workers while the two of them strolled through Westbrooke Park before school and work respectfully.
“I’m gonna go run to the bathroom really quick.” Ethan Llewel-lyn said, smiling at his son as he retreated to the parks’ bathroom fa-cilities.
He made his way over to the bridge absentmindedly, smiling once he realized how just two weeks ago, Abram was practically ending their friendship at this very spot. And now, well, Alex wasn’t exactly sure what they were now but for the time being, he wasn’t complaining. And he definitely wasn’t complaining when he saw a shirtless Abram running toward him from the parks’ track, sweat beading around his muscles and riding along the ridges of his abs, a pair of basketball shorts hanging loosely on his hips.
“Hey, Alex.” Abram said, stopping in front of him to take a break from his workout.
“Jesus, Abe.” Alex said, clearly ogling him. “You’re running be-fore school now?”
“Clears my mind.” Abram admitted, wiping some sweat from his eyes. “What are you doing out here so early?”
“My dad and I had breakfast with Mom and Faith at the bistro across the street before Mom went to work and she took Faith to school for some yearbook thing.” He gestured toward the bathrooms. “Dad’s in there.”
“Cool.” he smiled.
“Hey, while you’re here, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay.” he grinned again, not helping Alex’s lust levels.
“I know it’s only been a couple days but about the other night—”
“Alex,” He closed the remaining space between them, the boards of the bridge creaking under his feet as he neared. “Do we really have to talk about it?”
“I just want to know where we stand as far as—”
Abram leaned in and kissed Alex roughly, his hands snaking to the shorter man’s hips and pulling him even closer. Alex immediately kissed him back with ferocious need, running his hands over Abram’s slickly wet abs, earning a groan from him. Though he’d hate to admit it to anyone else, he couldn’t stop himself from whimpering slightly when Abram pulled away, a wide rubbernecked grin on the taller one’s face.
“Did that help you figure out where we stand?”
Alex laughed, biting his lip briefly as he stared into Abram’s deep sea eyes. “Honestly, it just made my head even cloudier.”
Abram just shook his head. “You’re overthinking it.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” Abram smiled again, reaching out to fiddle with the hem of Alex’s pants. “That standing isn’t exactly what I’m focusing on when I think about us.” He kissed him again, swiftly this time, like it was just a habit now. “Let’s not define everything right now. Let’s just be.”
That’s when Abram noticed Alex’s dad coming over to them, throwing a hand up and smiling at him. “Hey, Mr. Llewellyn.” Ethan waved back before Abram looked back at Alex. “I gotta go. See you at school.”
He watched with glee as Abram started running again, a content curve on Alex’s lips.
“Are you and Abram...back together?” Ethan said warmly.
“Work in progress, Dad.” he responded, his eyes fixated on Abram’s ass while he still had it in view. “Work in progress.”
For the first time, Mercer and Kirby walked into Westbrooke High hand in hand. Stares followed them while they sauntered down the hall. Between his infamy and her new kid status, they would proba-bly have a ship name by the end of the school day, but they ignored them, only concerned with what really mattered: each other. They found their way down the hallway, ambling over to Kirby’s locker. She quickly opened it, Mercer leaning against her locker’s neighbor. Kirby grinned as she turned to him, leaning forward and kissing Mercer as Faith and Willa, followed by Bridge, came over to greet them.
“Enough already.” Bridge said sarcastically.
They parted, all smiles as each of them eyed their respective bes-ties.
“What’s up?” Mercer said to Bridge.
“Alex and Abe want us”
Nodding, Mercer kissed Kirby’s cheek. “I'll catch you later?”
She affirmed his question as he walked off with Bridge to meet up with the rest of his friends. Faith and Willa joined her by her locker, the former scoffing.
“Is it just me or are they always having secret rendezvous meet-ings?”
“They’re probably talking about the Hugo thing.” Willa deter-mined.
Slamming her locker door closed, she gave them equally inquisi-tive stares. “What Hugo thing?”
After a collective sigh and
a weary glance, Willa spoke up. “Stra-ton’s roommate and best friend, Hugo, saw Sumner the night he vis-ited Straton.”
“Straton saw Sumner?” Kirby felt blindsided by this apparent known information. “When?”
“Mercer didn’t tell you any of this?” Faith scrunched up her nose.
“What’s going on?”
“They got to witness Straton’s interrogation,” Willa said. “Sumner visited Straton, covered in blood, asking for his help. When he refused, Sumner declared revenge and fled. And apparently, Hugo saw him before he disappeared again.”
“And when was this?” Kirby demanded.
“Over a month ago, I think?” Willa looked to Faith for confirma-tion.
“Yeah, something like that.” she said.
Kirby stormed off, leaving them by her locker.
“Wait, we wanted to talk about Homecoming!”
Mercer, down the hall with his friends at Alex’s locker, gave his friends a look of caution.
“What do you mean, ‘tonight’?"
Alex huffed. “If we don’t do it soon, they could get impatient and take the pages away again.” he told him, knowing that his next words were the last ones any of them wanted to hear. “We have to go to Shadows Manor. Tonight.”
“Alright. I guess we should get it over with. We need those pa-pers.” Mercer decided not to argue, especially with Alex being right.
“Are you guys forgetting about what Dagger said?” Bridge coun-tered the content feel that swam around them. “Arclan and Shadows Manor are under police surveillance. The grounds could be swarm-ing with cops. We can’t exactly tell them that we’re there to stroll down memory lane.”
“The four of us there will definitely be easy to spot.” Mercer sighed.
“Then we split up.” Abram said, weighing out their options. “You and Bridge go to Shadows Manor and find those papers and Alex and I will go find out what Hugo saw the night Sumner went to Heartmyth."