Complete Opposites

I grip his ankles, "Don't take away my fun." I go to work on the second sock. "Are you hungry?"

He nods.

I fire off a quick text and a reply comes immediately.

"We're gonna pop into the dance," I say. "The guys say there's still plenty of food."

"Even if I could dance, I can't dance right now."

I'm slipping on his left high-top. "You can't walk either. It's piggyback rides for you until you've healed."

He smiles at me, "I'm okay with that."

He might be okay with the piggyback rides, but I can tell he has reservations about popping in at the party. "We don't have to stay long," I assure him. "I told you before, the guys want to thank you. Like it or not, you have a fan club now. You know, appearances can be deceiving. They're actually good guys."

"I can see that," he says. "They were certainly worried about you when you were missing. I mean, they weren't worried about losing the game. They were worried about you, Cam. I have no doubt they would have went to war with me for you had I enlisted them."

I swallow a lump in my throat. It's nice to know people care. I go to work on tying his other shoe, "Tomorrow morning I have breakfast with my dad before he drives back home."

"Maybe you shouldn't tell him about what almost happened. That would be hard for a parent to hear."

I nod, " But there is something important I want... That I need to tell him. I want you to join us."

He shakes his head, "That's family time. I'll see you after."

"He'll want to meet you."

"Because I'm your roommate?"

"No. He's gonna want to meet my boyfriend."

He smiles and kisses me. "I'd like that."

He hops on my back and we're off to greet our fans and conquer anxieties.

Two weeks later:

Shane:

I'm back at the off-campus house of Justin and his cohorts at Wheaton College. I knock and after a long wait, Justin himself answers the door. It takes him a minute, but he finally recognizes me. His nose looks mostly healed, but he still has two black eyes as reminders of what I did to him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Tough talk from a guy whose ass I kicked a couple weeks ago. I say, "Had I known what you planned to do to my friend when I was last here, I would have done a whole lot more to fuck you up, you filthy piece of shit."

He smiles an ugly smile, "My friends are home too. This time we won't underestimate you."

Cam steps into view from the side of the porch, "Will you underestimate me? You laid your nasty hands on my boyfriend when I ordered you not to. That's not okay. How dare you touch him. You are about to experience some real pain."

"We still have you outnumbered."

"Don't two of them still have broken arms?"

"We have a couple more friends over. There are six of us."

Cam grins, "The six of you would be hopeless against my friend alone. But against the six of us? You have no idea how much we're going to enjoy this."

Justin looks confused, "Six of you?"

Ruddy-Face and his three buddies appear from the other side of the porch. "That's right. Six of us," he says.

We push our way inside and close the door behind us. It's good to have friends.