"Are you sure that you and me and Jay couldn't, you know?" Chris asked. He was sprawled across the couch in their hotel room, lying on his back with his feet propped up on the armrest.
"Sorry, honey, but we're gonna have to say no," Adam replied.
"You just don't know how to treat a horny pregnant man, do you?" Chris pouted.
Adam set down the magazine he was reading, gazing over at his friend. "We're not going to interfere until you make a decision about Hunter."
Chris frowned upon the mention of his lover's name. "What do you think I should do?" he asked.
Adam shook his head. "I told you, I can't give you advice on this. It's a hard situation, and only you can decide whether you want to go back to him or not."
"But I don't know!" Chris grabbed the pillow from under his head, clutching it against his chest and burying his face in it. "How the heck am I supposed to make a decision like that? I'm damned it I do, damned if I don't!"
"You're trying to get an opinion out of me, but I'm
not saying anything." Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "Some friend you are." Chris scowled, peeking out from behind the pillow. "What would you do if you were me?"
"I don't know. I don't think I'd know unless I was in your situation." Adam shrugged.
"Well can't you help me out at all?" Chris snapped.
"Ok. Let's look at the facts. You love Hunter, right?"
"Right," Chris agreed.
"But you're angry with him because he cheated on you."
"Damn right!"
"You'd like to go back to him."
"Uh huh," Chris stated.
"But not if Kurt's gonna be with him too."
"So true." Chris' eyes narrowed. "I can't believe that he chose that disgusting, nasty, whory, awful little - "
"Chris," Adam interrupted, "enough name calling, ok? Can I go on?"
"Fine," Chris muttered.
"Ok. So the bare facts are that you have two options; you can go back to Hunter and put up with Kurt's presence, or you can stay with us. You'll be taken care of either way. You're just gonna have to decide which you like better. Maybe choose the lesser of two evils, so to speak."
"A lot of fucking help you are!" Chris exclaimed. "That didn't help one bit, I knew all of that already!"
"I told you I'm just stating the facts," Adam replied. "I wish I could tell you what to do, Chris, but this is your life!"
"Come on Adam." Chris gazed at his friend pleadingly. "Can't you advise me at all?"
Adam sighed. "Fine. I think you should forget about Hunter if you don't think you can get along with Kurt, move on, and take another lover to act as your baby's father."
"No!" Chris cried, clutching at his abdomen. "I can't do that Adam! This is Hunter's baby! It just wouldn't feel right having someone else claim my baby, and I wouldn't feel right for me to be with someone else either! I love Hunter!"
Adam just raised an eyebrow.
Chris frowned, looking confused for a moment, then glaring at his friend. "That's not really what you think at all, is it? You're just trying to trick me into saying I still want Hunter!"
"Chris, honey, stop being so paranoid. I'm on your side, not Hunter's. I just want what's best for you. I'll admit that I did want to see how you'd react to that, though."
"Great." Chris buried his face in the pillow once more. "So you just proved that I am still in love with Hunter and I hate the idea of being with anyone but him. Just great! So I should just say fuck everything and turn a blind eye to the fact that he'll be fucking Kurt the whole time we're together!"
"I didn't say that," Adam replied.
"Adam, you're driving me nuts!" Chris exclaimed, face still buried in the pillow. "You are really, really driving me nuts! You just don't have any opinion on this, huh?"
"I want you to do what would make you the happiest; since I can't read your mind, then I can't answer that question for you," Adam replied.
"When did you become a fucking shrink," Chris muttered. He sighed, glancing up at his friend once more, his eyes more sad and confused than angry. "I really do need to think," he whispered. "I don't know what to do Adam, I really don't! Can you at least - at least hold me?"
"Sure." Adam's smile was gentle as he stood and strode over to the couch, pulling Chris into his arms.
Chris sighed, resting his head against Adam's chest. "Hunter used to hold me like this," he whispered after a few moments of silence. "Whenever I was upset, he'd just hold me and stroke my hair, and I always thought it was the sweetest thing in the world. I miss him like crazy, Adam."
"I know honey." Adam held Chris tightly, gently stroking his friend's back.
"You know what, I've got to make up my mind." Chris took a deep
breath. "At the show tomorrow, I'm gonna go talk to him, and I'm just gonna
say whatever I feel is right. Whatever comes to mind my when I see him,
I'm gonna say, and I'll tell him whether I can come back to him or not."
He took a deep breath, keeping his face buried in Adam's shirt. "Tomorrow,"
he whispered.
Next in the series:
Paths Now Chosen