Field of Blooms: The Beginning Ch. 03

"Are you going somewhere?" Eric asked, looking puzzled and a bit concerned, as he leaned against the door frame.

"No." Austin just kept fussing with his hair.

"Then why are you getting all dressed up?"

"I'm wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I wouldn't call that dressed up."

"You're wearing your good shorts, tight t-shirt and you're doing your hair. You want to tell me what's up?"

"I made a phone call to Becka and, thanks to her help; your friends are going to show up for a small party in about ten minutes." Austin beamed; thrilled he finally had an opportunity to do something special for Eric.

Eric was not happy, "Tell me you are joking?!"

"Um, no I'm not." Austin was slightly surprised at Eric's reaction.

"Why would you do that?! I said I didn't want any parties or friends this week!"

"I just wanted to do something nice for you and I know how much you enjoy parties."

"Austin, I am tired and not in the mood to entertain a bunch of people! Doing something nice for me is cooking me dinner, laying on the couch together as we watch TV, or holding my hand as we walk the boardwalk."

"I'm sorry, I can call Becka back and cancel it."

"Austin, it is ten of six, where I come from you do not do things like that." Eric responded in exasperation.

Just then they heard the doorbell ring, "You want me to get it?" Austin offered, trying to hide how wounded he felt.

"Yes, I have to try and look somewhat presentable." Eric walked past Austin and to the shower.

Austin held back the tears as he made his way down to the main floor, when he opened the door and saw Becka, he burst out crying.

"Austin, what happened?!" She wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a hug.

"Eric and I just had a fight. He is really mad at me for not telling him about the party." Austin sobbed.

"Awe hunny, it will be okay." She glared up the stairs.

"No, it won't be, he is really pissed at me. I just wanted to do something nice for him."

"Look, this will still be a great party and he will feel horrible for fighting with you."

"I hope so." Austin sniffled.

"Come on, let's get everything set up."

Once upstairs, Becka could hear the shower running on the fourth floor. She was intent on having a few words with Eric. "Oh Austin, could you go down to my car and grab the box I have in my trunk?"

"Sure thing." Austin smiled as he took her keys and headed out the front door.

Becka quickly made her way to the fourth floor, into the bathroom and flung the shower door open.

"What the fuck?!" Eric exclaimed as he covered himself.

"Oh please, I'm not interested in seeing your man parts."

"It's still rude, close the door!"

"You jackass!" Becka reached over and turned off the hot water.

Eric jumped as ice cold water showered over him, "What the fuck did I do this time?!"

"You made Austin cry, again!"

"Why, because I told him I didn't want a party?" Eric reached for a towel.

"I'm sure you didn't say it that nicely, but yes. I tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea and that he should talk to you first, but that boy loves you and wanted to surprise you."

"Becka, I am exhausted! As I'm sure you know, Austin had a really bad episode last night." He started drying off. "Could you at least turn around?"

Becka huffed as she turned her back, "I know he did, that is why he wanted to have this party for you, so you could take your mind off of everything. Eric, let me tell you a little something about people who have PTSD, they also suffer from extreme guilt. Have you ever noticed that following an episode Austin seems depressed?"

"Yeah, actually I have."

"That is because he is riddled with guilt, my brother is the same way. They feel like they are a burden on their loved ones, so they try to do things to make it up to them. Like this party, Austin is feeling horrible, about what happened last night, especially since you hurt yourself. I completely understand that you are exhausted, I've been there quite a few times myself."

"I didn't mean to snap at him like that, I just wanted this vacation to be perfect, he's been through so much." Eric walked over to the closet looking for something to wear. "And when that episode happened I just felt like the perfect vacation was completely ruined."

"Oh please, stop being such a drama queen, it doesn't look good on you! How do you think he feels? He is blaming himself for ruining the vacation, so he is trying to make up for it. These are the things those pamphlets don't tell you about."

"I'm sorry. There is just so much to understand, sometimes I feel so overwhelmed." Eric emerged wearing his khaki shorts, black button down shirt and Calvin Kline flip flops.

"You have my number; call me if you have any questions or just need to talk. Sometimes it really helps to talk to someone who knows what you're going through. The doctors are great but unless they are going through it first hand, it's not the same."

"You really mean that?"

"Absolutely! Now, go find Austin and give him a big kiss."

Just as Eric was coming down the stairs he saw Austin carrying the box. He quickly went over to him, took the box from him, and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

"You're not mad at me anymore?" Austin said breaking the kiss.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you like I did, can you forgive me?"

"Yes." Austin smiled as he kissed him back.

Eric's close friends from the football team were the first to arrive; soon the house was full of chatter and music. It seemed like the flow of guests didn't stop and soon more than twenty people had shown up. Thankfully, the house was large enough to handle everyone so it didn't seem overcrowded. Everyone was having a wonderful time and, true to the promise she made to herself, Becka made sure she kept a close eye on Austin. She had been watching him so closely that she hadn't noticed that Jennifer crashed the party and when she saw her, Becka made her way over at breakneck speed.

"Bitch, come here!' She grabbed her arm pulling her into the hallway. "I don't remember inviting you."

"Let go of me." Jennifer spat in response as she yanked her arm back, "You didn't, Ben did." She added with a smug grin.

"Whatever, do not cause any drama, do you hear me? Because mark my words, if you do, there will be hell to pay!"

Jennifer just rolled her eyes as she walked back into the main room. Becka had a strange feeling that Jennifer was up to no good. Something about the way she was beginning to fawn over Austin just wasn't right.

"So Austin, tell me, have you guys been enjoying the vacation?" Jennifer asked as she sat next to him.

"Aside from the episode last night, yeah it has been nice." Austin took a drink of his soda.

"Episode?" Jennifer questioned.

"I have PTSD and certain things can trigger me to have a flashback, during which I end up reliving parts of the attack."

"Oh that sounds just horrible. What caused it last night?"

"The lightning storm that passed through, flashes of light seems to be one of the main triggers."

"So when you say you relive the attack, does that mean you remember everything?" Jennifer was getting a little nervous.

"I don't really remember what happens during them, but sometimes it feels like I can feel them hitting and kicking me again."

Resting her hand on his leg, "I am so sorry to hear that, it must be just awful for you."

Her hand on his leg, gave him an uneasy feeling, "Thank you. I need to use the bathroom, excuse me."

As she watched him walk out of the room she noticed James looking at her so, she got up and walked over to him, "Why do you look like you are going to puke?"

"Because I feel like I'm about too. How can you act like everything is fine after what we did?! I just keeping imagining him seeing my face and..."

Jennifer grabbed his arm and rushed him out of the party. She found a small balcony, slamming the door, "What the fuck is the matter with you!? Are you trying to have everyone find out?!"

"This is completely wrong Jennifer! We jumped Austin, beat the holy shit out of him then, we left him for dead and now we are here acting like nothing is wrong." James started to shake.

"Correction darlin', what you three did, I never touched that limp wristed boy."

"I think we need to turn ourselves in."

Jennifer wrapped her hand around his throat, pushing him against the railing, "Shut your fucking mouth! I will push you over and it will look like some stupid, drunk, high school jock fell to his death! My life will not be ruined by you or some fucked up, brain dead, queer. I will get Eric back, soon he will get tired of having to deal with Austin and his problems then, I will be waiting for him. So keep that mouth of yours shut before I have it shut for you!"

Releasing her grip, she turned and walked back inside. James was going to be a problem that had to be dealt with, she thought as she walked over to David.

"Come here please." She said tapping him on the shoulder. "Oh, have Tyler come too."

The three of them met at the bottom of the steps, "We have a problem, James is fucking weak and I have a feeling he could ruin this for us."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"That pansy is feeling guilty about what happened to Austin and wants to go to the cops and turn himself in. If he does that, then they will find out about us and that will ruin our lives."

"What should we do?" David questioned as he cracked his knuckles.

Jennifer shook her head as she thought to herself, damn jocks are stupid! "No, we can't do that. We have to play this very smart! The last thing we want is to draw attention to us. For now, just get him the fuck out of here, I will stick around a little longer so it doesn't look suspicious."

The party went well past two in the morning, Becka stayed to help clean up the house. It took the three of them almost till dawn before the house was back to normal. After they had finished, they all crashed so they could catch some sleep before having to head home.

The next morning, Eric greeted Becka with a hug, "Thank you so much for helping Austin and everything you did to make the party happen. It actually was really great."

"You're welcome Hun, my pleasure." She responded giving him a knowing smile.

Walking her out to her car, Eric opened her door and said, "You be careful going home and drive safe. Thanks again Becka."

"I can't believe it's time for you to start football practice." Austin said as he finished packing their suitcases.

"I know, summer always seems to fly by. I think that is everything." Eric looked around the room, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything.

They checked over the house once more before heading down to the car. Austin asked Eric if he would mind driving home since he was feeling tired and soon after they left, Austin was completely knocked out. He slept the entire way home; Eric even had to wake him when they pulled in his driveway.

"I just thought of something. Are you going to stay here when school starts, or are you going back to your house?" Austin asked as he put his suitcase on the bed.

"I've been thinking about that. As much as I am going to hate it, I'm going to stay at my house. I know your parents let me stay here this summer but the school year is going to be different."

"I had a feeling that's what you were going to say." Austin said as he frowned.

"Awe, don't worry superman." Eric pulled him into a hug, "We will see each other every day in school, and you think I'm not going to be here on the weekends?"

"I know, it's just I got used to you sleeping next to me. It is going to feel so weird sleeping alone again."

Eric opened his suitcase and pulled out the picture frame, "Here, set this on your nightstand. That way, whenever you feel lonely, just look over at it and remember how much I love you."

"Thank you." Austin smiled at him.

"Hey, school is still a few more weeks away so we can still enjoy the rest of the time off."

That Monday was the beginning of football practice, Eric wasn't happy with the idea of leaving Austin home alone but Austin insisted that he would be fine. He reminded Eric that he couldn't watch him twenty-four seven and sooner or later he was going to have to be alone. Eric told him that he was going to come straight home, as soon as practice was over. For the first time since the attack, Austin was alone in the house. For the past few months someone had always been around him and now here he was alone, it felt somewhat weird, almost like he didn't know what to do with himself. Since Eric had hired someone to take care of the grass and the pool, there really wasn't anything for him to do. He decided to take a walk to the field.

The corn had grown above his head, he felt like a kid again off on a wild adventure. He walked around remembering the good times he used to have with his best friend Jeff, before he moved away. He walked through the field and down the old dirt road, past the stacks of bailed hay where they used to play, to the old irrigation pond where they skipped stones. Things change, people grow older, but this area always seemed to stay exactly the same, as if time itself stood still, it brought a smile to his face.

"Alright men, you've had some time off to relax and unwind, but now it's time to start getting serious. Last year was a great year for us and I want this one to be better. This year I want us to make championship! For some of you this is your last year, so let's make it one to remember! Team captains this year are going to be Eric Mason and Tyler Stetser, listen to them, do what they say and we should have a great year. Okay, enough talking, let's go run some warm-up drills."

Eric was ecstatic that he had finally made captain of the varsity football team, which was something he had been working towards his entire high school career. He couldn't wait for practice to end so he could go home and tell Austin. They ran warm up drills for an hour before taking a quick water break, then, it was back to more drills. Once practice was over it was time to change and head home. Eric was walking through the locker room when he overheard a few guys talking.

"I hear Mason is a fag." One of the guys laughed.

"Better watch out, he might make you his tight end." Another joked.

Eric rounded a row of lockers and stood in front of the jokers. "Is there a problem?"

"No, just normal locker room chatter."

"I didn't think so." Eric turned and started to walk away.

"Stupid fag." One of them muttered under their breath.

Eric turned around, picked the guy up and slammed him into the lockers, "If you are going to say something stupid, have the fucking balls to say it to my face! You want to say it again?"

"Stupid, faggot!" The guy spat back.

Rage started to boil in Eric's eyes as they seemed to flash red, "You get one of those in your lifetime, you just used it up. The next time you call me or anyone else that, you will be off the team so fast your fucking head will spin, and that goes for everyone else! We are supposed to be a team!"

"Is there a problem in here?" Coach Davis asked as he rounded the corner.

"No sir, just having a little chat with Monroe here about the importance of team unity." Eric slowly released his grip not breaking his death stare.

"Okay, then get cleaned up and head home. We have a lot of work to do this week."

Just as Coach Davis walked out of the locker room, Tyler came running up to him, "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Sure, let's go to my office."

He took his seat behind his desk, Tyler decided to stand. "You can have a seat."

"That's okay, I'll stand."

"Very well, what would you like to talk to me about?"

"It's Mason. I don't think he is the right fit for captain."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, sir, he has anger issues. You just saw what happened in the locker room, and I'm sure you've heard the rumors about him. Do you really want someone like that being captain?"

Coach Davis gave Tyler a stern look, "What difference does it make if Eric is gay, straight, bi or whatever? He is a very good ball player, that's the reason I made him captain of the team."

"Sir, how would you have felt if there was a fa.... queer in your locker room when you played football?"

"First and foremost, things were a lot different in the early 80's when I was in school, it is now 2007 and times are changing. To answer your question, there was this guy in my school who was gay. Now that I think about it, he had a lot more balls than we gave him credit for, being out back then. I had always thought that he was interested in me but I never paid any attention to it, until one day he worked up the nerve and told me how he felt. I looked him straight in the eye, thanked him but told him that I could never have those same feelings for him. We became good friends after that day. In fact, he was my best man at my wedding." He sat up and turned a picture of them around for Tyler to see, "So, what I'm trying to say is this, Eric has always been gay and if he has never shown any interest in you or anyone else on the team before, what makes you think he is going to now?"

This was not the response Tyler had wanted, but to make coach happy he lied, "I guess you're right, he is a damn good player. I guess I was just being stupid about the whole thing."

"You're not stupid, don't ever say that, you just needed a little life lesson. Now go get cleaned up and head home."

Eric could hardly contain his excitement as he practically raced through the door. He ran through the house calling for Austin, his excitement slowly turned into worry when he couldn't find Austin anywhere. He started wondering where Austin could have gone, his car was still in the driveway so he hadn't left, then he remembered that Austin loved taking walks in the field. He bolted down the stairs and out the back door. Just as he was coming to the head of the field, he saw Austin come walking out. He ran up to him, with a huge smile on his face and scooped Austin into his arms.

"Guess what?!" Eric exclaimed with joy.

"What? What?!"

"I made captain!!!!" Eric spun them around.

"Oh my god, Eric! That's awesome, you've been wanting that forever!" Austin kissed him.

"This is going to be the best senior year ever and I get to enjoy it all with you!"

"I must be the luckiest guy on earth, not only am I dating the most popular guy in school, I'm dating the captain of the football team!"

That night the Montgomery's took Eric out to celebrate making captain. Eric had called his parents to tell them the good news, but they didn't seem as excited for him as the Montgomery's, it hurt his feelings a little but deep down inside he didn't expect them to actually care.

One hot and humid afternoon, Austin was relaxing in the pool when he heard the low rumble of thunder off in the distance. He sat up from his pool lounger, looked towards the west, his heart jumped as he saw storm clouds moving in. Knowing that flashes of light are one of his triggers, he made his way into the basement taking the house phone with him. Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the phone rang.

"Hi Eric." He said while he walked into the back of the basement.

"How did you know it was me, you guys don't have caller ID?"

"Because I know you would have heard the thunder and would be calling to check on me."

"I'm leaving practice and coming home."

"But your practice doesn't end until three-thirty." Austin sat on the cool concrete floor.

"I don't care, I'd much rather be there with you. Besides I'd just be sitting here worried about you."

"Eric, I'll be fine. I'm in the back part of the basement where there are no windows. I promise I won't leave until the storm has passed."

"Ugh, Austin I rather be there in case you have an episode."