The Fighter

The interview went well, Westley thought. He'd researched the clinic before stepping foot in Wisconsin, so he hopefully knew what they were looking for. And he thought he was a good fit there as well. He hopped into his car and grabbed his phone from the console. He dialed Christian.

"Hey little man. How'd the interview go?"

"Good. I think. You want to give me directions to your place?"

Westley jotted down the instructions as Christian described the area where he lived.

"Okay, I think I got it. I'll call if I get lost, but otherwise I'll see you in a bit."

"I think it should only take you about 15 minutes. Call when you get here, I'll buzz you in."

"Alright."

Christian's directions were pretty spot on, Westley found the apartment without too much trouble. The place was decent looking. Nothing too fancy, but not cheap or run down looking. He hit send on his phone, and waited for Christian to answer. Instead he saw a door open, and Christian waving enthusiastically. He chuckled and hung up the phone. It was moments like this that made him really wish that, well, things could be more. He grabbed his overnight bag and met Christian at the door.

"Any trouble finding the place?"

"Nope. Not exactly what I was expecting, but no trouble finding it."

"Yeah I know most would expect a fancier place, or a better location, but I like living low key."

"I get that." Westley said.

Christian guided him into the apartment. Inside was tidy, without too much furniture, or decorations. Westley set his bag on the couch.

"So, since it's still early afternoon, we can either go out for dinner later, or we can go shopping for something to make here."

"I think shopping isn't a bad idea. If you are up for it."

"Yeah."

"You don't get recognized?"

"Sometimes. Not often. I think people don't expect a pro ball player to go shopping for himself. And I think a lot of people around here are a bit more reserved when it comes to us. They may come up and ask for an autograph, but really don't get too excited about it or obnoxious."

"Oh, okay."

"Let's take my car."

They drove in companionable quiet to the store. As they got out of the car, Christian turned to Westley.

"Any idea what you want to have?"

"I pretty much eat anything. Except seafood."

"Ah, good. I'm not a fan of fish either. But I think maybe some chicken, potatoes and veggies?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright."

They chatted a bit while picking out the food. They decided on lemon and rosemary marinated chicken, loaded baked potatoes and a cauliflower/broccoli mix.

"I'm glad you like cauliflower, for some reason it always felt like nobody else I know likes it." Westley said.

"Not a huge fan of it, but with broccoli next to it, I'm good. What time do you have to head home?"

Westley blushed.

"Technically not until tomorrow early afternoon."

"Alright. What do you want for breakfast then?" Christian gave him a bit of a leer.

"Doesn't matter to me, I usually just eat toast or, well nothing."

"Alright little man, we'll get you a decent breakfast. I have most of that stuff at home, but I did need to get more coffee."

They wandered into the coffee isle. Christian breathed deep, taking in the pleasure of the fresh scent of coffee beans. He grabbed a bag of beans, and reached for a bottle of something, but turned to Westley.

"Strawberry or Raspberry?" He asked.

"Both? I guess what's the context?"

"Flavored coffee. I know that's a bit weird, but I like a splash of something sweet, and I don't like cream or straight suger."

"Oh. Um. Either really."

"Both?" Christian laughed as he grabbed the flavored syrup off the shelf.

They made their way to the check out, and Christian paid for the groceries. The drive back to his apartment, he pointed out some of the landmarks of the area- a small pond and a playground mostly.

"That's a small hospital there- I stop in once in a while to visit the kids there as well as visiting the Children's Hospital south of here."

"That's cool. I bet they really like it."

"Some do, some I think just like having someone else to talk to besides doctors. I feel bad for some of them at Children's. Every once in a while there's a kid there that was abused or something, and don't have anyone that visits them. It's so sad."

"Ugh... I hate that. I mean it's bad enough that your mom or dad hurt you but then to have no one to visit?"

"Yeah. I mean at least with me, I wasn't hospitalized long, just a day or two if I remember. But my mom and sister came. Even my grandparents came. It was nice to know someone was in my corner."

They arrived back at the apartment and carried the groceries through the living room into the kitchen, Christian quickly prepared the chicken and set a timer.

"So, want a tour while the chicken is cooking?"

"Sure."

Christian lead him though the kitchen back to the living room. Besides a couch and one recliner, the only other furniture was the TV and a bookshelf next to it holding DVDs.

"So here's the living room. Nothing fancy."

"Not a lot of furniture either..."

"No, growing up the way we did, I'm used to modest living. So really, I don't need anything fancy. I'd rather save my money for important things. Like family."

"Sure."

"And here's the stairs to the bedrooms." Christian opened a door.

"Geez, I didn't know the place was two floors."

"Not very big, but they squeezed them in. I think the developers originally wanted to make these into condos, but I wonder if they didn't sell well, or were considered too small or something. So they rent them out."

"Cool."

Westley followed Christian up the stairs and around a corner to the second floor. There were three doors down the hallway.

"Bathroom. There's a half bathroom downstairs off the living room too. Here's the guest room. And here's my room." He opened the door to a modest sized room, with a king sized bed, a dresser with a small TV on top. The bedding was a dark green.

"Fits you." Westley said.

"I'd like to think so. I know the green isn't imaginative, but it was always my favorite color."

"I like it."

"So. Now what do you want to do? We have a bit of time before we have to start working on dinner..."

Westley laughed. "Doesn't matter to me."

Christian picked Westley up and threw him onto the bed. He covered him with his big body, and leaned into kiss him.

"I'm thinking we make out a bit... I haven't seen you in a while, I'm a bit eager to play."

Westley stiffened a bit, but relaxed once Christian continued to kiss him.

A few minutes later the timer going off in the kitchen penetrated their lust fogged brains.

Christian pulled back a bit, resting his forehead on Westley's.

"Damn, my sense of timing sucks..."

Westley laughed softly, "We have time later."

Christian reluctantly rolled off Westley and helped him off the bed.

"Let's go cook."

After their meal, the men sat down in the living room. Christian turned on the TV, flipping channels. Westley remained quiet. Christian was worried about how quiet the little man had been recently, but knowing that he didn't talk much to begin with he tried to dismiss it.

"So. Anything specific you want to do now?" Christian asked.

"Um. No, not really..." He trailed off as Christian pinned him to the couch.

"Good, because I have an idea, and want to continue the shenanigans that got interrupted earlier."

Westley chuckled.

Christian started kissing his way down to Westley's abdomen, and slowly lifted his shirt. Westley assisted by arching his back so Christian could pull off it off. Christian marveled at the pale almost hairless skin that was left behind. He had a bit of a epiphany of something he wanted to try.

"Stay right there, I'll be back." Christian rolled off Westley and jogged to the kitchen. He returned with the two bottles of flavored syrup.

"I've always wanted to try this, especially with someone who you can see the syrup on." Christian grinned.

"Um... Okay, a bit weird, but I'm game. Wait did you just call me pale?"

"Yup." Christian said as he snapped the cap open. He drizzled a bit of the syrup across Westley's chest. He set the bottle down next to the couch, and pulled his shirt off. He bent down and caught a drip threatening to go over the edge with his tongue. Westley jumped a bit, causing Christian to chuckle. He continued to lick along the trail of raspberry syrup until he reached a nipple. He scooped up a bit, and smeared it around Westley's nipple, then promptly sucked it into his mouth. Westley cried out, his back bowing causing his pevis to press into Christian's stomach.

"Hey... Now you got some on me. I think you need to clean that off."

Christian pulled Westley up and rolled over, letting the small man rest on top. Westley rubbed his chest over Christian's then slide down to lick the sweet flavor off of the dark man. Westley reached the spot on Christian's abdomen where his muscles formed a shapely 'V' down to his member. He unbuttoned the jeans in his way, and yanked on them, pulling them out of the way. Christian's boxers followed with the jeans, exposing his cock. Westley was stunned by the size, even though he should have expected it with how he'd felt whenever they'd rubbed each other. He was fascinated by the foreskin as well, getting distracted from the syrup congealing into Christian's chest hair momentarily while he stroked up and down on his cock. He watched as the foreskin moved with each motion of his hand.

"You keep playing, you'll be licking up more then the syrup." Christian said, putting his hand over Westley's.

Westley grinned. "Sorry. Never seen an uncut cock before."

"Really. Well then. Play away as long as you know what you're getting into."

Westley kept his hand moving, but leaned down to lick more of the syrup off of Christian's chest. He switched to using his left hand on his cock, then reached over to grab the bottle. He sat back, opened the bottle and with an evil grin, trickled a generous amount of the sticky liquid onto Christian's cock. Christian squirmed a bit, feeling the nectar slick down his penis. Westley set the bottle back down, then wiggled down into a more comfortable position. He let the pink elixir roll down to the base of Christian's monster and slowly licked it back up to the top. Christian panted as Westley continued his slow torture of licking from base to tip. The succulent sweetness of the syrup combined with Christian's natural flavor pulled Westley in. He suckled on the tip, running his tongue under the foreskin to collect the warm drizzle that got trapped there. Christian's back bowed up tight. Westley backed off a bit, moving up to clean Christian's chest. He got up to Christian's nipples when he was pulled up further. Christian caught him in a searing kiss.

"You interested in stepping this up a notch?" Christian asking while locking eyes with Westley.

"Um, like what?"

"Well, whatever you're comfortable with, but I wanted to get my mouth on you too."

"I'm good with that, but I'd like to continue my exploration of you at the same time."

"Ah, good choice." Christian picked up Westley and turning him around, nestling him on top of his body. He quickly stripped off Westley's pants and boxers.

"Well, the height difference makes this a bit tricky. Hmm..." Christian hesitated a bit.

Westley squirmed a bit, slipping his lower body up towards Christian a bit more. Christian nudged his hips up, and scooted to set his shoulders up onto the armrest of the couch. Westley shoved a decorative pillow under Christian's hips, it was a bit of a stretch, but both men were able to reach. Westley jumped a bit once he felt Christian's mouth touch his dick, but it spurred him to return to his ministrations. They worked each other over to the breaking point, Westley unable to contain his hips movements as Christian writhed under him. They came at the same moment, licking the remnants of the tart, sweet liquid from each other while enjoying the essence of each other's release. After using their tongues to clean up, the men rearranged to lay next to each other. Christian dozed off, as Westley snuggled in. Westley heard Christian start to snore softly, and started to wonder why he'd allowed things to go so far. He'd hoped to break things off over a civilized adult discussion on why things wouldn't work out between them. Well, really he'd hoped he could let things drift apart slowly so he wouldn't have to be part of a discussion, but obviously Christian wasn't letting him slip away that easy. Christian stirred a bit, snuffled and looked over at Westley.

"Well, I think it would be more comfortable to move to the bedroom, what do you think?"

Christian woke up, and reached over to cuddle closer to Westley. He felt around on the bed, but the side Westley had been sleeping on was empty. Christian sat up, and saw Westley perched on the edge of the bed staring off into space. He was dressed, his bag packed and by the bedroom door.

"Hey, what's up?" Christian asked.

Westley mumbled something but Christian couldn't hear it.

"What?"

"I'm thinking I should go." Westley said, still not looking back at Christian.

Christian became a bit perturbed. They'd had an great day yesterday, an awesome night, but now something was bothering Westley, and he wasn't explaining it. He'd had a gut feeling when Westley set this visit up he was going to end things, but after what had all happened he didn't know what was coming now.

"Would you please tell me what's going on?" Christian asked, his voice a bit hard.

Westley was quiet.

Christian couldn't hold it back anymore.

"You know, the fucking brooding white guy act was cute at first now it's just fucking annoying. Would you just fucking tell me what the hell is going through that messed up brain of yours?"

"How dare you!" Westley whispered with force.

"If you would fucking talk once in a while then maybe I wouldn't have to. God forbid you talk about your feelings. Fucking grow a pair and tell me what's going on!"

"You have no right to tell me what I should and shouldn't do."

"We're in a relationship, I deserve some kind of information."

"No, we're not in a fucking relationship. Neither of us can be out, and I can't deal with this. I was hoping to let this damn thing run it's course, but you wouldn't leave things alone."

"Leave things alone?! Are you fucking kidding me?! I'm supposed to know that when you stop talking to me we're done?! Without a so much as a notification? A fucking text break up would be better than the passive crap you're throwing."

"Passive is all I can do. Don't you get it?! I have no idea how to handle this sort of thing, and I can't explain how things are in my messed up head to myself, how the fuck can I explain it to anyone else?" Westley stood up.

"I don't get it! How can anybody?"

"All I can do to get through most days is to shove all these emotions into a box and ignore them. If I don't think about them, or talk about them, they don't exist. You have no idea what its like. So, you know, sorry that you find my coping mechanisms to be so fucking annoying. Whatever." He walked out the door.

Christian slumped back on the pillows. This wasn't the way he wanted things to end, but he wasn't sure how to make it right either.

"Hey, this is Westley, leave a message."

Christian sighed. "Wes. Little man, please call me. Let's talk, okay? I can't leave it like this. Please." He set his phone down and rolled back into bed. It had only been a few hours since their argument but Christian realized they both had over reacted. And Westley only seemed to get really angry when Christian had called him 'messed up'. Replaying the conversation in his head, he also remembered Westley repeating it back to him in an almost sarcastic voice. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it was obvious it rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe they weren't ready for a real relationship, but maybe they could still be friends or something.

"Wes. Little man, please call me. Let's talk, okay? I can't leave it like this. Please."

Westley replayed the message one more time. He lost count how many times he'd listened to Christian's sultry voice pleading with him. He stared at the wall inside his hotel room. Too many times he'd done this, just staring at the wall, trying to ignore the voice inside telling him he was too dumb, too useless, nobody would ever want him they way he needed them to. The easy way out would be to ignore the phone call, not call Christian back, and to just let whatever this was fizzle out and die on it's own. Or he could 'grow a pair' and tell Christian everything, and explain why he wasn't good enough for Christian. Then he would break things off. He sighed, trying to ward off the tears that threatened to fall. He was 'messed up' and he didn't think things would get any better. Even after all the talking with counselors after the Ryan incident didn't help him get control of his depression. Nobody was willing to put him on any medication 'yet'. He wasn't sure what that meant completely, if it was due to the fact that they thought his depression was based on his friend cutting him, or if they thought he wasn't bad enough to need the chemical balancing. He had no idea why he felt the way he did, but he'd felt this way since middle school, way before Ryan cut him. He'd just been too much of a coward to do anything about it until he'd been hurt. It was just easier to not form relationships, and if he'd inadvertently become friends with someone, he let it run it's course, and never put too much effort into it. He know a lot of people got frustrated with him about it, and Ryan was the only one who'd stuck around. After that, he could hardly trust anyone. He was surprised that Micheal had put up with him so far. Now he'd just turned into a bitter, lonely, depressed idiot. And he didn't know how to fix it.