Chapter 7
Drew was starting to pant a little from pain. His arm was throbbing sullenly. Cid had had someone call an ambulance on their cell phone, but it hadn't yet arrived. Neither had the police. More and more people were starting to crowd out into the parking lot, to see what was going on out here.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice speaking nearby. He groaned as he turned to see Jarrod standing at the forefront of the crowd, his beautiful eyes darting over the scene. They lit on Drew, and widened. "Drew!" he cried, rushing over. "Are you hurt? What happened?!" He cried anxiously.
Cid spoke before Drew could say anything. "This guy hit him in the arm with a pipe," he pointed down at Steve, who was still unconscious on the ground.
Jarrod stared down at the unconscious form of his ex-boyfriend, and his face paled to almost sheet-white. "Steve?" he whimpered. "Steve...hit you?!" he shrieked in horror, tears gathering in his eyes.
"Jarrod," Drew said sharply. "Listen to me! This isn't your fault!"
Jarrod stared at him, his eyes wide and bright with tears. "Of course it's my fault!" he wailed miserably. "Steve wouldn't have attacked you if it weren't for me!"
"What's going on?" Cid asked.
Drew ignored him, stepping toward Jarrod. His lovely Jarrod was shaking, he was trembling so badly. Drew felt his heart sink into his stomach. "Jarrod, it ISN'T your fault," he insisted, putting out his good hand and touching Jarrod's arm. "You already broke up with him, and you didn't make Steve come here and attack me. This has nothing to do with you."
"Yes, it does," Jarrod whispered, anguish in his eyes. "He could have hurt you badly, Drew, or even k-killed you...all because of me!"
Drew put his good arm around Jarrod, drawing him close. "NO," he said again. "Steve chose to attack me on his own. Probably because I kicked him off the movie set when he came to threaten you. Jarrod, you can't blame yourself for this. I don't blame you. And I'm fine. Really."
Jarrod studied his face desperately. "Are you sure, Drew?" He asked, tears streaming down his face.
Drew nodded. "I can't stand to see you blame yourself for this," he said truthfully. "Especially when it's not your fault. You didn't know that he was going to do this. And at least that jerk will be in jail now, where he belongs. He can't hurt anybody else, especially not you. I'm actually glad that he came after me and not you, because I managed to fight him off. You might not have been able to. And that thought scares the crap out of me. I couldn't stand to see you hurt, Jarrod."
The beautiful eyes stared at his face. "I wish that he'd attacked me rather than you," he sniffed sadly. "Because he's my ex-boyfriend..."
Drew shook his head. "You don't deserve to be attacked just because you dated that guy, Jarrod," he said firmly. "Everybody makes mistakes. And like I said, I couldn't have stood it if he'd hurt or killed you."
Jarrod took in a deep, shuddering breath. "Why?" he asked softly. "Why, Drew? We're friends, but..."
He sighed, leaning in closer. His voice was so soft that even Jarrod had to strain to hear it. "Jarrod, I don't just want to be your friend," he said. "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, it's the worst possible time and I've tried so hard to hold back and wait like a good boy...but, damn it, I love you!"
Jarrod gasped, his eyes widening even more. "Drew? You...you...but you're not gay!" He yelped, then shut up when he realized that the people standing nearby might be able to hear what he was saying.
Drew snorted. "I'm an actor, Jarrod," he breathed. "I've been acting straight for a long time, because of my career. But I'm gay. And I fell in love with you the first time that I saw you on the set. I know it's stupid to tell you this now, I wanted to wait a few months while you got over Steve there..."
Jarrod drew in another long, shuddering breath. "I see," he said shakily. "I don't know how I feel about this, Drew..."
He shook his head. "I don't expect you to feel anything about it right now," he said. "How I feel about you is my problem, not yours. We can still be friends, because I won't throw myself on you like a slavering dog. I want you to have the time and space to get over your horrible ex-boyfriend, no matter how crazy it drives me."
Jarrod's eyes began to shine. "You're amazing, Drew," he breathed.
He shrugged. "Not really," he said.
"No, you are! Oh, the ambulance is here," he added, looking over Drew's shoulder. "Have them look at your arm!" he said, beginning to shoo Drew toward the ambulance that had just driven up into the parking lot.
Cid came to his other side,. and Drew found himself being fussed over from both directions. While he didn't mind Jarrod doing it, he could have done without the director's over-solicitousness. They herded him over to the ambulance, where a paramedic approached them. "Who's injured?" he asked.
"His," Cid said. "A man attacked him and hit him in the arm with a length of pipe."
"Let's have a look at your arm, sir," the paramedic said to Drew, leading him over to the ambulance. "Which arm is it?"
"The right," Drew replied stonily.
"Can you lift it?"
He tried, but only ended up making a sound of pain. "Not really."
The paramedic nodded. "I'll have to cut the sleeve off of your shirt so I can get a good look at it."
Drew winced; he was wearing a silk shirt that had cost him a pretty penny. "Okay," he said in unhappy acceptance.
The paramedic carefully cut the sleeve off of his shirt and eased it down his arm, then set his hands on the muscle just above the thin but dark bruise already forming. "I'm going to lift your arm to see whether the bone is cracked or broken, sir," he said. "It's going to hurt."
"All right. Just do it," Drew said resignedly.
The paramedic lifted and rotated his arm a bit, and he groaned. "It doesn't look like there's any damage to the bones. You're just going to have one hell of a bruise. Here," he retrieved a syringe and gave Drew a shot in his arm, just above the bruise. "This is a local pain killer. That'll keep you until a doctor can take a look at you at the hospital."
He nodded, though he was reluctant to go to the hospital. Still, he needed to do so - if for nothing else than to have his injury documented for the police when they charged good 'ol Steve with assault. He wanted to put Jarrod's ex-boyfriend away for awhile, so that he couldn't bug Jarrod. Well, that and the thought of him rotting in prison would be very satisfying...
A police car pulled up, and two cops appeared. Cid officiously bustled over to them and began to tell them what had happened, giving his statement. Drew was glad that the director was keeping them busy for the moment. He had enough to deal with right now, though the pain of the injury was finally fading. He breathed a deep sigh of relief at its ebbing. The paramedic urged him to sit down in the back of the ambulance and gave him a blanket to cover his shoulders and keep him warm.
Jarrod hesitantly perched next to him. "Are you okay, Drew?" he asked anxiously.
He smiled wanly. "I'm better now that it doesn't hurt. Don't worry, Jarrod. I'll be fine."
Jarrod was watching the other paramedic, who was kneeling next to Steve. His ex-boyfriend was starting to come to, groaning and thrashing. "I really can't believe that he did this," Jarrod said woefully.
Drew sighed. "Don't fret over it. The guy's an asshole."
"Yeah, that has become clear to me," Jarrod said sadly. "Which is why it upsets me so much that I dated him for over a year."
"I'll bet that he never showed you this side of himself while you were dating," Drew said shrewdly. "Until the end, when he hit you. Right?"
Jarrod nodded. "He always seemed so nice. I really thought he loved me..." two tears trickled down his cheeks, and Drew wished that he could put his arm around Jarrod, but unfortunately the one nearest to him didn't work very well right now.
"People can fool you," Drew said. "Especially when you want to be fooled, because you're in love."
Jarrod glanced at him. "Has that ever happened to you?"
He grimaced. "Yeah. I dated this guy for awhile before I moved to California, and I really thought that he loved me. I know that I loved him! But it turned out he was screwing everything in sight behind my back. I only found out when another guy who was fucking him too told me to break us up. Guess he was stupid enough to think that they'd get together once he did that. But I got something good out of it - it helped to give me the courage to move here and try to be an actor, because I just wanted to get the hell away from him."
Jarrod gave him a commiserating look. Then he hesitated: "Why do you pretend to be straight, Drew?" he asked, sounding disapproving.
He sighed. "Because my career can't really handle me coming out of the closet right now, Jarrod," he replied quietly. "There aren't enough roles for 'out' gay men to keep me employed, and I'd tend to get typecast. When I can prove that I can carry off straight roles, and I'm famous enough that the homophobes in Hollywood can't dump me for somebody else, I'll trumpet who and what I am to everybody in sight. I wish I could do it now, but unfortunately I have to play the game if I want to be an actor."
Jarrod was silent for a moment, then said: "I see. I guess I understand. It just sucks that you have to do that."
"Believe me, it really does," Drew sighed.
The cops approached the ambulance, looking to get his statement of what had happened. Drew told them everything, explaining that the guy who'd attacked him was the ex-boyfriend of his friend Jarrod, who was angry at him because he'd tossed him off of a movie set when he'd come to threaten and harass his former boyfriend. The cops wrote it all down, then questioned Jarrod about Steve. He explained how his boyfriend had cheated on him, had hit him when questioned about it, and had come to the set of the movie to bully him and try to make him leave with him. And he told them how his friend Drew had happened to see this incident, and had forcibly removed Steve from the set where he wasn't supposed to be anyway.
"I guess that's why he attacked Drew," Jarrod told them. "Or maybe he thought that we were boyfriends or something, which isn't true. Drew is just my friend who helped me."
Drew had to admire how Jarrod made it sound like Steve was an irrational gay guy who'd attacked a straight guy for being friends with a gay guy. It was masterful. His Jarrod was just wonderful. He had no idea what the future would bring, or how Jarrod would react to his confession of love. But it didn't matter right now. His secret was safe, Steve would be out of the picture for good, and his movie was wrapped and almost ready to be released in theaters. He had no complaints, despite the nasty bruise on his arm.
A/N: Reviews for our sweet boys? How will Jarrod react to Drew's confession? Stay tuned...
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Drew was starting to pant a little from pain. His arm was throbbing sullenly. Cid had had someone call an ambulance on their cell phone, but it hadn't yet arrived. Neither had the police. More and more people were starting to crowd out into the parking lot, to see what was going on out here.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice speaking nearby. He groaned as he turned to see Jarrod standing at the forefront of the crowd, his beautiful eyes darting over the scene. They lit on Drew, and widened. "Drew!" he cried, rushing over. "Are you hurt? What happened?!" He cried anxiously.
Cid spoke before Drew could say anything. "This guy hit him in the arm with a pipe," he pointed down at Steve, who was still unconscious on the ground.
Jarrod stared down at the unconscious form of his ex-boyfriend, and his face paled to almost sheet-white. "Steve?" he whimpered. "Steve...hit you?!" he shrieked in horror, tears gathering in his eyes.
"Jarrod," Drew said sharply. "Listen to me! This isn't your fault!"
Jarrod stared at him, his eyes wide and bright with tears. "Of course it's my fault!" he wailed miserably. "Steve wouldn't have attacked you if it weren't for me!"
"What's going on?" Cid asked.
Drew ignored him, stepping toward Jarrod. His lovely Jarrod was shaking, he was trembling so badly. Drew felt his heart sink into his stomach. "Jarrod, it ISN'T your fault," he insisted, putting out his good hand and touching Jarrod's arm. "You already broke up with him, and you didn't make Steve come here and attack me. This has nothing to do with you."
"Yes, it does," Jarrod whispered, anguish in his eyes. "He could have hurt you badly, Drew, or even k-killed you...all because of me!"
Drew put his good arm around Jarrod, drawing him close. "NO," he said again. "Steve chose to attack me on his own. Probably because I kicked him off the movie set when he came to threaten you. Jarrod, you can't blame yourself for this. I don't blame you. And I'm fine. Really."
Jarrod studied his face desperately. "Are you sure, Drew?" He asked, tears streaming down his face.
Drew nodded. "I can't stand to see you blame yourself for this," he said truthfully. "Especially when it's not your fault. You didn't know that he was going to do this. And at least that jerk will be in jail now, where he belongs. He can't hurt anybody else, especially not you. I'm actually glad that he came after me and not you, because I managed to fight him off. You might not have been able to. And that thought scares the crap out of me. I couldn't stand to see you hurt, Jarrod."
The beautiful eyes stared at his face. "I wish that he'd attacked me rather than you," he sniffed sadly. "Because he's my ex-boyfriend..."
Drew shook his head. "You don't deserve to be attacked just because you dated that guy, Jarrod," he said firmly. "Everybody makes mistakes. And like I said, I couldn't have stood it if he'd hurt or killed you."
Jarrod took in a deep, shuddering breath. "Why?" he asked softly. "Why, Drew? We're friends, but..."
He sighed, leaning in closer. His voice was so soft that even Jarrod had to strain to hear it. "Jarrod, I don't just want to be your friend," he said. "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, it's the worst possible time and I've tried so hard to hold back and wait like a good boy...but, damn it, I love you!"
Jarrod gasped, his eyes widening even more. "Drew? You...you...but you're not gay!" He yelped, then shut up when he realized that the people standing nearby might be able to hear what he was saying.
Drew snorted. "I'm an actor, Jarrod," he breathed. "I've been acting straight for a long time, because of my career. But I'm gay. And I fell in love with you the first time that I saw you on the set. I know it's stupid to tell you this now, I wanted to wait a few months while you got over Steve there..."
Jarrod drew in another long, shuddering breath. "I see," he said shakily. "I don't know how I feel about this, Drew..."
He shook his head. "I don't expect you to feel anything about it right now," he said. "How I feel about you is my problem, not yours. We can still be friends, because I won't throw myself on you like a slavering dog. I want you to have the time and space to get over your horrible ex-boyfriend, no matter how crazy it drives me."
Jarrod's eyes began to shine. "You're amazing, Drew," he breathed.
He shrugged. "Not really," he said.
"No, you are! Oh, the ambulance is here," he added, looking over Drew's shoulder. "Have them look at your arm!" he said, beginning to shoo Drew toward the ambulance that had just driven up into the parking lot.
Cid came to his other side,. and Drew found himself being fussed over from both directions. While he didn't mind Jarrod doing it, he could have done without the director's over-solicitousness. They herded him over to the ambulance, where a paramedic approached them. "Who's injured?" he asked.
"His," Cid said. "A man attacked him and hit him in the arm with a length of pipe."
"Let's have a look at your arm, sir," the paramedic said to Drew, leading him over to the ambulance. "Which arm is it?"
"The right," Drew replied stonily.
"Can you lift it?"
He tried, but only ended up making a sound of pain. "Not really."
The paramedic nodded. "I'll have to cut the sleeve off of your shirt so I can get a good look at it."
Drew winced; he was wearing a silk shirt that had cost him a pretty penny. "Okay," he said in unhappy acceptance.
The paramedic carefully cut the sleeve off of his shirt and eased it down his arm, then set his hands on the muscle just above the thin but dark bruise already forming. "I'm going to lift your arm to see whether the bone is cracked or broken, sir," he said. "It's going to hurt."
"All right. Just do it," Drew said resignedly.
The paramedic lifted and rotated his arm a bit, and he groaned. "It doesn't look like there's any damage to the bones. You're just going to have one hell of a bruise. Here," he retrieved a syringe and gave Drew a shot in his arm, just above the bruise. "This is a local pain killer. That'll keep you until a doctor can take a look at you at the hospital."
He nodded, though he was reluctant to go to the hospital. Still, he needed to do so - if for nothing else than to have his injury documented for the police when they charged good 'ol Steve with assault. He wanted to put Jarrod's ex-boyfriend away for awhile, so that he couldn't bug Jarrod. Well, that and the thought of him rotting in prison would be very satisfying...
A police car pulled up, and two cops appeared. Cid officiously bustled over to them and began to tell them what had happened, giving his statement. Drew was glad that the director was keeping them busy for the moment. He had enough to deal with right now, though the pain of the injury was finally fading. He breathed a deep sigh of relief at its ebbing. The paramedic urged him to sit down in the back of the ambulance and gave him a blanket to cover his shoulders and keep him warm.
Jarrod hesitantly perched next to him. "Are you okay, Drew?" he asked anxiously.
He smiled wanly. "I'm better now that it doesn't hurt. Don't worry, Jarrod. I'll be fine."
Jarrod was watching the other paramedic, who was kneeling next to Steve. His ex-boyfriend was starting to come to, groaning and thrashing. "I really can't believe that he did this," Jarrod said woefully.
Drew sighed. "Don't fret over it. The guy's an asshole."
"Yeah, that has become clear to me," Jarrod said sadly. "Which is why it upsets me so much that I dated him for over a year."
"I'll bet that he never showed you this side of himself while you were dating," Drew said shrewdly. "Until the end, when he hit you. Right?"
Jarrod nodded. "He always seemed so nice. I really thought he loved me..." two tears trickled down his cheeks, and Drew wished that he could put his arm around Jarrod, but unfortunately the one nearest to him didn't work very well right now.
"People can fool you," Drew said. "Especially when you want to be fooled, because you're in love."
Jarrod glanced at him. "Has that ever happened to you?"
He grimaced. "Yeah. I dated this guy for awhile before I moved to California, and I really thought that he loved me. I know that I loved him! But it turned out he was screwing everything in sight behind my back. I only found out when another guy who was fucking him too told me to break us up. Guess he was stupid enough to think that they'd get together once he did that. But I got something good out of it - it helped to give me the courage to move here and try to be an actor, because I just wanted to get the hell away from him."
Jarrod gave him a commiserating look. Then he hesitated: "Why do you pretend to be straight, Drew?" he asked, sounding disapproving.
He sighed. "Because my career can't really handle me coming out of the closet right now, Jarrod," he replied quietly. "There aren't enough roles for 'out' gay men to keep me employed, and I'd tend to get typecast. When I can prove that I can carry off straight roles, and I'm famous enough that the homophobes in Hollywood can't dump me for somebody else, I'll trumpet who and what I am to everybody in sight. I wish I could do it now, but unfortunately I have to play the game if I want to be an actor."
Jarrod was silent for a moment, then said: "I see. I guess I understand. It just sucks that you have to do that."
"Believe me, it really does," Drew sighed.
The cops approached the ambulance, looking to get his statement of what had happened. Drew told them everything, explaining that the guy who'd attacked him was the ex-boyfriend of his friend Jarrod, who was angry at him because he'd tossed him off of a movie set when he'd come to threaten and harass his former boyfriend. The cops wrote it all down, then questioned Jarrod about Steve. He explained how his boyfriend had cheated on him, had hit him when questioned about it, and had come to the set of the movie to bully him and try to make him leave with him. And he told them how his friend Drew had happened to see this incident, and had forcibly removed Steve from the set where he wasn't supposed to be anyway.
"I guess that's why he attacked Drew," Jarrod told them. "Or maybe he thought that we were boyfriends or something, which isn't true. Drew is just my friend who helped me."
Drew had to admire how Jarrod made it sound like Steve was an irrational gay guy who'd attacked a straight guy for being friends with a gay guy. It was masterful. His Jarrod was just wonderful. He had no idea what the future would bring, or how Jarrod would react to his confession of love. But it didn't matter right now. His secret was safe, Steve would be out of the picture for good, and his movie was wrapped and almost ready to be released in theaters. He had no complaints, despite the nasty bruise on his arm.
A/N: Reviews for our sweet boys? How will Jarrod react to Drew's confession? Stay tuned...
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