mickey-6

Subject: Mickey Chapter 6 Chapter 6 "So why didn't you tell me this earlier?" his brother asked after Mickey had told him about the events of the past couple weeks and how he had met a Drew Patterson, heir to one of the country's most famous and controversial conservative dynasties. And also how he was starting to have confusing feelings about the relationship. The brothers usually had long catch-up conversation at least once a week, but Mickey had let it slide the previous round. The closeness between them, however didn't allow to Mickey hide his situation for long, and it didn't take much time for Nate to suspect that something was going on with his elder brother and forced a reckoning. "I guess I didn't want to worry you and Mom, and..." "She called me after you two talked a couple days ago, she sensed that something was bothering you," he interjected. "She'll give you space to figure things out, Mickey. She's our mom. But, you know, that's not my style." Mickey chuckled. "I should have known, nothing gets by her. Don't let her worry, OK?" "In the short term I can do that. But you're going to have to `fess up sooner or later." "I know that, and I want to tell her. But there's just too much happening right now," Mickey pleaded. "So what else happened today that's gotten your head so much more tangled up?" Nate asked, the voice retreating from admonishment to a much more sympathetic tone. Mickey let out a breath of air. "Well, after I finished my run..." *** `Home ok. tx for asking' he texted as soon as he walked into his bedroom. He hadn't taken yet taken off his shirt or shoes or even wiped the sweat from his forehead that was now almost dripping into his eyes. After resting for a few minutes, he finally took off his half-soaked t-shirt and the rest of his clothes and made into the shower, where he just let the warm water stream down his body until he got the energy to actually start applying the shampoo and soap. "That's who he is!" Mickey exclaimed to himself. He had just pulled a fresh t-shirt over his head after the shower and was planning on hitting the books hard for his contracts class, but the thought distracted him and he just sat down on the edge of his bed, thinking. `Yeah, Andrew, of course, that was his name!' he thought to himself, as other memories came flooding into his mind after he made the connection. For most people, it would have been the kind of link that would help establish a friendship if the pair didn't previously know each other well. A shared high school experience, common friends, now at the same college. But the circumstances weren't so easy here. Broaching to Drew the fact that he was gay just never came up in any of the conversations that he'd had with Drew. He wasn't closeted at all at this point in his life and in any other situation it would have been no big deal at all. But this was different. He remembered that Andrew was in the same house as a guy he went with to the senior prom. It wasn't a big crush for Mickey, more like he was one of the few out guys at the school and they both thought it would be fun to go to the prom. The houses at their boarding school were small and Andrew couldn't help but remember that person and event, Mickey thought. `Was Andrew really very close to Drew? If he was, he would almost certainly at least mention that we went to the same school. But would he go into the details? Would he mention that I'm gay?' Mickey asked himself. And how would Drew react? Mickey couldn't imagine him denying their friendship. Could he? But maybe that was just his own fantasies of their good friendship projecting themselves. Or would he be upset that Mickey wasn't honest with him? He might be angry, Mickey thought, but he honestly didn't try to hide anything. It just didn't ever seem important. At least not at first. But now it seemed like the most important thing on earth. There were a million scenarios playing through his head, but whether Andrew told him or not he figured he had better bring it up himself sooner rather than later. He managed to pull his anxious body off of the bed and over to the small corner desk, but couldn't focus on the document that he was supposed to be studying. Every time he looked at a page he just ran through the situation again in his head. It went on this way all afternoon. He felt like his head was in overdrive ruminating over it, but his studying efficiency was more like thirty percent. Sara was gone for the weekend, so for dinner he just finished off some leftover spaghetti and meatballs from the fridge. Just to distract himself, or try for a reset, he looked at his phone. The confusion was so dominating that he almost ignored the message icon that he usually saw almost the moment it popped up. It was 45 minutes old. `Busy?' He felt frantic and struggled to keep his fingers steady as he typed in a reply. 'Sorry, just saw message. Studying. Still at picnic?' `Heading back to campus for a study group. Desert later?' `Yes!' *** As he approached he could see Drew through the big plate glass shop window, his hands in his pockets, looking over rows of stainless steel ice cream canisters displayed in careful rows like abstract sculptures in a modern museum. "Hey, guy!" Mickey greeted to him, smiling as stepped up the counter. Drew immediately turned around and smiled. "Hi Mickey, thanks for coming out. I know you've got lots to do, but I thought that a study break would be good for both of us," he proclaimed. "Glad to oblige. I really like this stuff, but try to limit it to days that I work out or run. Today is my lucky day," Mickey responded, though he didn't actually feel too lucky, at least right then. He hadn't before felt such anxiety around Drew as he felt this moment. While the old soda shop was a historic fixture in the campus neighborhood, ankara escort it had moved into the 21st century with a wide selection of Italian gelatos, which they freely fused with old-fashioned American sugar cones and fancy toppings. Not to mention the recently completed high-tech renovation that made the place feel almost like the interior of a spaceship. Mickey gazed at the huge selection, then turned to Drew. "My treat. You've been buying for me and bringing over food all the time. "But I asked you, so it's my job to pay. Besides, I'm going to order a humongous one, and there's no way that I'd let anyone else pay for me to indulge myself like this. "But..." Drew smiled, but ignored his protest and turned to the attendant. "These two are together." Mickey would have fought him further on it, even to the point of sticking money in Drew's pocket. He did that more than once to wealthy friends at Middlefield. But he was getting so nervous about distractions that he decided to just let it go and pointed to a small, pointed waffle cone and asked for `cookies and cream'. It was his favorite flavor for a lot of sweets, but he only ordered one scoop. "You can have more!" Drew protested. "I know, and I appreciate it. But I'm not... I mean, I like ice cream, but I'm not real hungry right now." "Do you feel all right? Drew asked, his eyes moving from the ice cream containers to Mickey's face. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. But I think that one scoop will be plenty for me right now," he replied as the attendant reached over the counter and handed him his cone. "Thanks,' he said to the attendant before turning to Drew. "And thank you, too." Drew just raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Glad to," as Mickey took his first tentative lick of the ice cream. `Can he tell that I'm nervous?' he asked himself. "Ok, and what would you like?" the attendant then asked, turning to Drew as he shook the scoop in a bowl of water to slicken it up again. "I'll have the waffle cone." "This one here," he asked, pointing to the middle sized one. "No, above that, the big one," he said, as the guy reached to the top of the stacked cone holder and slipped off the very top one. "Great. I'd like one scoop of chocolate velvet and one scoop of peanut butter," he said. After both had been scooped up, he continued. "With chocolate sprinkles. And M