The Pretender

Michael woke up slowly, and realized Daniel was spooned up to his front. Usually because Daniel was too sleepy to really think about things was the only time they could snuggle, and do other stuff before he freaked out. Michael decided he was going to take advantage this morning. He ran his right hand down Daniel's front, and gently put his hand over his morning wood. Daniel's hips moved into Michael's hand encouraging more.

"Mmm, morning Daniel."

"Fuck!" The warm body launched away from him.

Michael shook his head, usually Daniel let things get further then that before he freaked out... And he'd never heard Daniel say 'fuck'...

"Crap, I'm so sorry!" Michael said, as he sat up to a bewildered Westley staring at him.

"Well, honestly I was into it until you called me Daniel..." Westley said.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Want to tell me who Daniel is? Cause before this I was a bit surprised you never made a move. Unless I was imagining things."

"No, not really, I think you're a great guy, but this friend I have back home..."

"The friend you're helping to come to terms with his sexuality?"

"Yeah."

"Dude. Just, wow man. I mean you're seriously thinking about trying to be with him?"

"If I can. I think he's the best thing that's happened to me. He's a great person, and I really think we would compliment each other if we were to become a couple."

"What if he can't come to grips with being gay?"

"I guess.... Well, I don't really want to think about it."

"Really? Because seriously, I think you're hot. And I wouldn't mind giving it a try if you wanted to."

"I can't, at least not right now."

"Well, on that note, I'm going to go take a cold shower."

Michael flopped down against the back of the couch they'd been laying on. It was still the middle of the night. He couldn't believe what had just happened. If Michael hadn't said Daniel's name, Westley and him probably would have gone a heck of a lot further then just a bit of a dick rub. Michael was disgusted with himself, but if he was honest, he would admit that he had feelings for Westley. Michael got up and went into his bedroom, and grabbed his phone. Without further thought, he called Daniel.

"Hmmp, Hello?"

"Hey Grumpy. What time is it there?"

"Um. 1:15, why? Isn't it like 11 there? Why are you up so late?"

"Well. I just woke up from a bad dream, and I've missed you. Needed to hear your voice. And even if you didn't answer I could listen to your voicemail and still hear you talk." Michael was surprised at how well the lie came out. He felt even more disgusted with himself.

"Ugh... I'm not sure if I should appreciate that or not."

"Okay, truth is, I lied just now, and I'm not sure why. I have a roommate out here, and in a sleep induced moment, I started to molest him thinking it was you. I wanted to call you, to remind myself that I can't be with him if I want to be with you."

"Wait, what? That was totally a fast rambling mess. Did you actually sleep with him?" Daniel said in a neutral tone.

"Not sleep as in sex sleep, but we fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up I thought he was you, and tried to molest him. We didn't get too far, I barely touched him. But I feel disgusted that I did."

"Okay."

"What? Just okay? You aren't mad?"

"Look, you told me you thought it was me. That's cool in my book. Unless stuff progressed after you realized it wasn't me."

"No, he pretty much swore and jumped up when I called him Daniel."

Laughter came from the other end of the phone. Michael felt relief.

"I meant to call you tonight, but I ended up hanging out with Ben and James and I felt it would be rude to call while I was out with them. And they'd probably make fun of me while we talked."

"Probably. So you did go talk with Ben?"

"Actually I went and talked with Hugh two times this week, and had lunch and dinner with Ben and James today. We got to talking, and lunch turned into dinner."

"Good! So did Hugh have good things to say?"

"He was great. I think I'm really learning a lot about being Christian and gay, and I'm really coming to terms with it. But I've never been so bored! I still can't go back to work yet."

"Your arm feeling better?"

"Yes, in fact no pain meds since Tuesday."

"Good. God I can't wait to see you in a week."

"Me to. Now let me go back to sleep."

"Okay. Good night."

Michael, feeling a little bit better about what just happened with the reassurance from Daniel, left his room to apologize to Westley. He walked back out to the living room, where Westley was sitting on the couch.

"Westley."

"Yeah dude." Westley said without looking at Michael.

"I just want to say sorry for taking advantage of you."

"Dude, if you hadn't at some point, I would have tried. I just didn't know you had somebody back home."

"Well, I think up until he talked with our pastor, he really wasn't my somebody."

"Your pastor?"

"Yeah, he's a good guy, his son is gay, so he's a great influence for young people questioning themselves. He helped his son's partner after he had a terrible experience with his parents."

"Well, here's the thing, I know that a lot of students by this point in school have a job lined up. I haven't even applied since I'm not sure where I want to end up at."

"Okay."

"So I guess the question is, would it be weird if I 'followed' you home? I mean strictly as a friend? I feel like I should take your advice, not only about the support circle but with talking with your friend's dad. It seems like you've got it all together, and I'm barely starting. I can't imagine any of my friends back home even coming close to how supportive you've been, and really I feel like it hasn't been that much." Westley let out a sigh.

"No, I think that's a great idea. Especially if we can find jobs close to each other, I'd like to stay friends. You can never have enough gay good friends."

Daniel found himself staring at the ceiling fan again. He seemed to be starting a bad habit. After Michael's phone call, he was still somewhat upset. He never would admit it to Michael though. It helped a bit that he said he'd thought it was Daniel next to him, but it still hurt. More so because he didn't know if he could be everything that Michael would want in a partner. Sure after his talks with Hugh, Ben and James he was feeling better about knowing he was gay and what that meant. But he still didn't know if he was going to be able to be intimate with Michael. He still got a little sick to his stomach thinking about it. That didn't mean he didn't want a relationship with him. He really did, but at the same time, he didn't want him to be bitter after 'wasting' years with Daniel until he came to the realization that they couldn't work through it fast enough. Maybe he should call Michael back and tell him to see where the relationship with his roommate went. He'd hate to be the one to hold Michael back from happiness.

Michael lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He was miserable. He couldn't figure it out really. He honestly wished he was holding Daniel right now. Just to reaffirm his thoughts. He was pretty sure that Daniel was it for him. He knew it was too early to be thinking this, but he truly wanted only Daniel in his life, as his best friend, his lover and his partner in all things. He was falling in love, deep. And it scared him. He didn't know why he had such strong feelings for the man, whether it was due to 'love at first sight' or because of the stressful situations they'd been through together. Or maybe it was just due to the concerns he had over Daniel coming to terms with his sexuality. He needed to call him back and let him know where he stood on their relationship. As he reached for his phone, it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Um, it's Daniel again."

"Hey, I was actually about to call you! I need to tell you something." But before Michael could continue, Daniel interrupted him.

"I think you should see where a relationship with Westley could go. I don't want to hold you back. We both know we probably can't sustain as a couple. We only met like 3 weeks ago, and I only admitted to myself this week that I'm gay. How in the hell can I expect you'll wait for me? I can't do that to you."

"Whoa, Daniel, deep breath. And before you decide what's good for me, why don't you ask me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're thinking that I might feel waiting for you is unfair to me, why not ask me what I think about it? Do I think it's unreasonable to wait for you?"

"Do you?" Daniel asked in a small voice.

"No, and Daniel? I actually was calling you to let you know I really think I want to be a part of your life. I know I've said it before, but I think we could have something special. But if you don't want it, okay. I don't know if it's because of everything we've been through with Mollie, you getting bit, and the whole coming out thing, but I feel like I want to experience it all with you. The good and the bad, everything. I want that with you."

Daniel was silent and Michael's concern grew. What was he going to do if Daniel said no?

But then a quiet sob came over the line.

"Okay."

"Okay. Good." Michael said.

"I can't wait until you come home. I miss you, and not even in the 'more then friends' category. I just miss hanging out with you as a friend too." Daniel said shyly.

"I miss you too. As much as I'm enjoying the reprieve from the weather there, I miss Wisconsin."

Daniel laughed.

It was finally time for Michael to come home. Daniel knew when his flight was arriving due to their conversations over the past half week. Michael was planning on getting a taxi back to his parent's house for the week he had left before returning to Madison for school. They were supposed to meet up for dinner later today, but Daniel decided to surprise him at the airport since he had nothing else planned today.

Michael was eager to get off the plane. He never was a great flier, but he was impatient to meet up with Daniel for dinner. The elderly woman next to him he'd chatted on and off during the flight smiled at him as the plane taxied to the terminal.

"Got someone waiting for you?"

"No," Michael laughed. "Well, dinner with somebody tonight. That and I don't like flying much."

"Ah, young love." The woman laughed, not believing anything else.

Michael nodded.

Michael leaned down and grabbed his bag from the bag return belt. He turned around to head towards the exit to find a taxi willing to drive the 30 minutes to his parent's house. He spotted a shock of blonde hair, and broke out into a wide grin.

Daniel must have spotted him at the same time, and waved with his left hand over his head, smiling wide as well. Michael walked quickly, but he didn't really want to make a big scene in the middle of the airport, so when he reached Daniel, he just pulled him into a rough hug.

"I missed you." He whispered into Daniel's ear.

"Ditto." Daniel said. They pulled back from the hug in time to see the elderly woman from the flight smile at them.

"Who was that?" Daniel asked as they turned for the exit.

"Ha, she sat next to me on the flight. She made a crack about me being impatient on the way in and something about young love."

"How cute. I'm glad she wasn't offended."

"Come on, let's get you home."

(Sorry this Chapter was shorter, but please keep a look out on my other story that I submitted at the same time:) thanks!)