A/N: For anybody who wants to read the story of Jonas and Julian, it’s called Pieces of You and can be found as a free story on my paysite: http://dlsyaoi-polloi.weebly.com/ Please leave a review if you would, and enjoy -DL
Chapter 13
“Well,” Jonas said, smiling. “It looks to me like you’re feeling happier, Pete.”
“Yes, I am,” he replied, wiggling in his seat. “Jake and I are lovers!” he cried, unable to keep it in anymore.
The therapist looked pleased. “So I take it that your talk with him went well?”
Peter nodded vigorously. “After that guy showed up, and I kicked him in the crotch, Jake and I talked it out…”
Jonas’ dark brows shot up. “You…what?! What guy? And why did you kick him in the crotch?”
“Oh,” Peter said, realizing that in his happiness over he and Jake becoming lovers he’d almost forgotten about his attacker. “One of the guys who beat me up managed to track me down and showed up with a knife. I think he wanted to kill me so that I couldn’t testify against him and his friends.”
Shock blossomed on Jonas’s face. “Are you all right?” he said anxiously, his eyes running over Peter.
He nodded. “Yes. When he grabbed me, I didn’t try to get away. I just got so mad…and I thought about what Jake would do to defend himself, so I kicked the guy in the crotch pretty hard. He fell down and hit his head on the concrete, and gave himself a pretty good concussion. Jake says that he’s so proud of me,” he added, beaming.
Jonas’ lips twitched. “I see. Well, I must say, I’m really proud of you, too, Pete. You took your fate into your own hands, and saved yourself. That must make you feel more confident about yourself.”
“It does,” he agreed. “I’m not so scared anymore. And I know I don’t have to rely on Jake all the time to protect me. I don’t want to be a burden on him…”
“Sounds to me like that’s the last thing that he considers you to be,” Jonas said humorously, his dark eyes twinkling.
Peter turned a little red, though he smiled. “Yeah. He said that he’s going to stay, though he’ll still take trips on his bike whenever he feels like it. He offered to let me come along with him, but the truth is…” he shivered. “The thought of riding that huge bike scares the crap out of me.”
“Understandable,” Jonas agreed. “But since this is something important to Jake, maybe you could give it a try? By that I mean just have him take you for a sedate ride around the block, not go screaming off down the highway. If it scares you too badly, then I’m sure he’ll understand that you don’t want to come with him. But if it’s not as bad as you thought it would be, you might consider taking a trip or two with him. Don’t you think that he’d like that?”
Peter nodded. He KNEW that Jake would be thrilled if he could bring himself to be a passenger on his bike, though he’d never push Peter into doing it if he really didn’t want to. “I could...give it a try,” he conceded slowly.
“Like I said, just have him give you a sedate ride around the block. That way, if you’re really scared he can pull over and let you off right away. And Jake will be pleased that you even tried for his sake, so it won’t matter if you can’t handle it.”
“Thanks, Jonas. That’s a great idea. I’ll try it.”
They talked about how his life was going after that, and he told Jonas that he was starting back at work next week now that he felt so much better. He also told Jonas about his ’biker babe’ outfit, which made the therapist laugh. He asked Peter to wear it into one of his therapy sessions soon, and Peter promised to do so. The time just flew by, and Jonas looked surprised when he glanced at his wristwatch. “Well, our hour is up,” he said in bemusement. “And it’s lunchtime. But I’ll see you in a few days, Pete. Although I think that we should cut our sessions down to just once-a-week, now, since you’re doing so much better. What do you think?”
He considered this as he rose to his feet. “I’d be okay with that,” he said. “I like talking to you, Jonas, but now that I’m feeling better and not so scared I don’t feel like I’ll break down if I don’t come in and see you three times a week.”
Jonas nodded, tucking his notebook into the pocket of the jacket he’d put on. “You’re doing very well, Pete. You’ve not only survived this traumatic experience, you’ve grown stronger because of it. That’s all that anyone can hope for or ask when they go through something like that.”
They left his office together. Peter saw a man waiting in one of the chairs, a youngish, handsome man with wavy, wheat-colored hair and hazel eyes. Jonas’ face lit up when he saw this person, and his pleasantly homely face transformed into something breathtaking. Peter was dazzled by it, as the man rose from his chair. “Julian,” Jonas said, and his voice was full of so much loving emotion that it rather took Peter’s breath away.
“Jonas,” the handsome man said, and Peter saw a similar look in his hazel eyes as he stepped toward them. “I cut out of class early to come and take you to lunch.”
“Oh, good! Well, it’s not good that you cut class, but…”
A pleasant laugh. “It’s not a problem. I’ll get the notes from a friend of mine later.”
“Ah. Oh, Peter, this is my boyfriend Julian. Julian, this is one of my clients, Peter.”
“Nice to meet you,” Julian said in a friendly voice, holding out a hand for Peter to take.
“Nice to meet you, too,” he replied.
Julian looked him over. “Has Jonas been taking good care of you?” he asked.
“Err…” Peter wasn’t sure how to reply to this question.
Julian grinned. “I mean, has he been helping you,” he explained in amusement.
“Oh, yes! So much!” Peter said fervently.
Jonas looked rather embarrassed, which made Julian laugh at him. “Jonas is and excellent therapist, as I well know,” he said. “That’s how we met originally,” he explained to Peter.
“Oh?” Peter looked from Julian to Jonas. The therapist shook his head.
“Yes, it wasn’t easy for me when I realized I was starting to have feelings for one of my clients. I think it was a lot easier for Julian, though,” he remarked dryly, eyeing his boyfriend.
“It definitely was. I wasn’t going to let a little thing like him being my therapist stand in my way when I fell in love with him,” he said easily. “Aren’t you glad that I didn’t, Jonas?” he went on, smiling at his boyfriend.
Jonas sighed. “Yes, I am. I might not have done anything if you hadn’t pushed the issue….”
“Well, sometimes you have to be pushy to get what you want. Anyway, if you’re done for the morning we should get going. Where do you want to go to eat?”
“How about that nice little deli? The kosher one?”
Julian nodded. “That sounds fine. It really was nice to meet you, Peter, but I’ve got to take him off your hands now.”
“That’s all right. I’ll see you later, Jonas. And it was nice to meet you, too, Julian,” he added honestly. Jonas had talked enough about his boyfriend that Peter had been curious to meet him. He could see why Jonas was so crazy about this guy. If he hadn’t had Jake waiting for him at home, he might have been jealous…
He waved and started toward the door of the office, leaving the two men behind. He was glad that he was feeling well enough to drive himself places again; not that he’d minded having Jake be his chauffeur, it was nice to be independent again. He’d stop at the store and pick some things up that Jake had requested, then he’d go to a pharmacy and stock up on more condoms and lube, since they’d definitely be needing more of those soon…
He pushed the door of the apartment open, calling out: “Jake?”
There was no answer, and the apartment felt empty. Peter set the bags down by the breakfast bar and went out to see if Jake’s bike was gone, but it was still in its space. He walked back to the apartment, only realizing then that the biker was probably doing the laundry again. He’d need to wash all of the new clothing that he’d bought for them, if nothing else…
He sighed a little in relief, shaking his head a bit at his instant fear that Jake might have deserted him when he’d found the apartment empty. He knew that he had to trust Jake to keep his word and not leave, and if he hadn’t been so uncertain and still on somewhat shaky ground right now he knew he wouldn’t have reacted like that. He took a couple of deep breaths as he put the groceries away, giving himself a mental pep talk as he did so. He KNEW he could trust Jake, that the biker wouldn’t ride away and leave him if he said he wouldn’t. He’d try harder from now on not to overreact out of fear, because he simply wasn’t going to let any kind of fear dominate his life.
The door opened as he was stowing the last of the groceries away in the fridge. Jake came in, heaping piles of folded laundry in his arms. “Hey, Pete,” he said casually. “How was your session today with Jonas?”
“Really good,” he replied, feeling flutters of pleasure in his abdomen just at the sight of his lover. “I met his boyfriend! He’s younger than Jonas, and pretty handsome. And Jonas is totally head-over-heels for him, I could tell just by the way he looked at him.”
“Huh,” Jake set the folded laundry on the couch. “That’s good to know. It means I don’t have any competition.”
At Peter’s puzzled look, he shrugged. “You obviously like Jonas, and since you’re an adorable, sexy little thing I can’t imagine that ANY gay guy who wasn’t head-over-heels for somebody already wouldn’t want to get to know you better.”
Peter’s mouth dropped open at these words which made Jake grin. “You really don’t know your own appeal, do you, Pete? Just as well. I’m a pretty jealous guy. I wouldn’t want you to start flirting with other guys.”
“As if I would,” Peter remarked scornfully. “I don’t want anybody but you, Jake.”
The biker smiled lazily. “Yes, I know. Which makes me one hell of a lucky bastard. Come here, beautiful.”
Peter went to him willingly, and Jake swept him up in his arms(he literally had to pick Peter up off the floor, since he was so much shorter than Jake), and kissed him deeply. He was almost out of breath by the time their lips finally parted. “Wow,” he gasped.
Jake smiled and kissed his forehead. “Definitely,” he agreed.
His brain finally started functioning again. “Jake? Jonas recommended something. He said that I should try riding on your bike around the block, and then I’d know if I can handle it or not. I’d like to try,” he added.
Jake drew in a deep breath. “Are you sure, Pete?”
He nodded. Jake looked as pleased as a cat with a key to a canary cage. “Well, we’ll give it a try soon. And thanks for being willing to try, Pete, even if you can’t handle it. I appreciate it no matter how it turns out.”
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