The Cameron Hotel Chapter 5
The Cameron Hotel Chapter 5 -- Face This Alone
For a moment, on the porch, Riddick thought to stop. He looked at the crying fox by the door, and hesitated in his stride. Riddick had never been one to leave someone to cry alone, and his every instinct said to stop.
But he kept going, anyway: down off of the porch and out across the front yard. Unfortunately for Alex, Riddick had only met him minutes earlier, and, as of yet, they weren't exactly friends...
...while the raccoon in Matt's Cadillac was a different story.
Riddick pulled open the door and slid into the back seat alongside his friend. The raccoon looked up with wet and almost frightened eyes, and the two just stared at one another in the silence.
"Matt?" Riddick never turned his head, but the ottercoon in the front turned HIS away from Luke when his name was called. "Could...would you mind giving us a minute alone?"
Matt took a breath, looking between the two for a moment before nodding, "Sure. Maybe he'll talk to you." He looked away again, turning off the car, "Come on, Sirrus."
Neither Riddick nor Luke broke their stare to see the ottercoon and his dragon leave, but as soon as their doors closed, Luke's head dropped.
A black furred paw lit on his shoulder, "Luke..."
The raccoon looked back up as his newest friend moved to his side.
"I heard the argument."
Luke looked away again, just as quickly, "All...all of it?"
"All of it." The panthion nodded, "But, don't worry. It's okay. Really: I promise. I don't mind if you're gay."
"What? No!" Luke's eyes shot open wide and his head jerked back up, "I-I'm not gay!"
"Luke..."
"N-no, seriously!" The raccoon shook his head, "It's just, I mean...remember I told you I'd fooled around with someone, right? That's what that was about."
Riddick smirked playfully, "With Alex's boyfriend, Jasyn, right?"
"Yeah!" Luke nodded without thinking.
"Then why'd you tell me he was just Alex's friend?" The panthion tilted his head, "You didn't tell me they were gay."
Luke's eyes widened, as he was caught in an earlier lie, "Well...no. It's just that I was...I was worried that...I mean...but that doesn't mean I'm...err..."
"Seriously, Luke..." Riddick chuckled softly, "Just give it up already. My dad already told me."
The raccoon blinked, "You're dad said I was...?"
"Matt told him." Riddick nodded.
Defeated, Luke slumped and just let out a long sigh, "...I'm sorry, Riddick."
The panthion squeezed the shoulder still in his paw, "What for?"
"For not telling you...and...and after we did what we did...I..." Luke took a breath, "I was just worried you'd...I...I dunno'...I just didn't want to fuck up making a new friend...y'know?"
"You need to calm down." Riddick playfully shook his friend by the shoulder, "It REALLY isn't a problem. I mean...I didn't tell you I was either, right?"
The raccoon slowly raised his head again, his eyes widening as he did. In his gaze, he found, yet again, the big toothy grin of the black and white feline. His moment of surprise stretched long, as he rolled over in his head what he'd just heard...and convinced himself he'd heard it right before he even let his lips open.
"You...you're..." He shook his head, "You, too?"
Riddick shrugged, "Guess we're both a little dense, for not guessing, huh? I mean...not a lot of straight guys do what we did last night, right?"
Luke couldn't help but laugh, "Not the first time they meet, especially."
The panthion pulled him into a hug, "Nice to get a smile out of you."
"Thanks." Luke shamelessly sunk into the hug.
"But..." Riddick pushed him away before either of them could get too comfortable, "This isn't why I'm here."
The raccoon made no attempt to hide his disappointment at the hug ending, "...then, what...?"
"Alex."
Luke just looked away.
"Come on, now." The panthion turned his friend's head back by his chin, "Don't be like that."
Luke didn't fight it, "What about him?"
"I can't let you just run out on him like that." Riddick let go of his chin, but left one arm around his shoulders, "I know it...it might not be my business, but...I can't just sit on the sidelines."
The raccoon huffed, "I don't wanna' talk to him, right now."
"And why not?" Riddick tilted his head, "Because he yelled at you?"
"Well...no...not just that..."
"Because Jasyn's your friend...and Alex broke up with him?"
"Yeah..."
"Isn't Alex your friend too?"
Luke looked away again, "...yes."
"And do you really, honestly, have one good reason to not be on the porch talking to him, right now?" Riddick offered a gentle, friendly smile, "I don't really know everything that's going on...but the fox doesn't exactly seem like his life is going great right now. Are you really gonna' leave your best friend to cry alone?"
"Best friend?" The raccoon looked back up, returning the soft smile, "YOU'RE my best friend..."
"That's sweet..." Riddick poked the kid's nose, "And it's also a lie. You just met me."
Luke twitched at the poke, "...and?
"And I'm betting he's been there for you...been your friend...a lot longer than a day..." the panthion's soft smile grew into another big, toothy grin, "...right?"
Luke nodded reluctantly, "...right."
"Now, are you gonna' let your friend face all of this alone? Or will you go back and talk to him?"
"I..."
"I should mention that I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."
The raccoon smiled, "Fine."
"Good boy." Riddick leaned in, kissing the slightly younger fur on the lips, "I'll be waiting to see how it goes."
The second the cat's lips left his, Luke felt like he'd gone deaf and mute. Silent and dazed, his eyes stayed glued to the panthion as he opened his door and stumbled around the car and backwards through the yard. Finally turning at the porch, he was snapped back to reality when he realized that Alex was nowhere to be seen.
With another glance back at the now waving black cat, Luke fumbled dumbly into the house and to the living room, where Matt, Chris, and Sirrus stood behind the couch.
The lion and dragon looked up to greet the raccoon, but Matt just stared, brow furrowed, at the wall.
"Uhm..." Luke coughed and caught his voice, "Wh-where's Alex?"
Matt's paw shot up, thump pointing toward the glass door to the back yard, "Out back." but his gaze never moved and his expression never changed.
"Uhm...thanks." Luke thought, for a moment, to ask what was wrong with his host, but just left for the door instead.
"Seriously." Matt huffed, finally turning his head to look at Chris.
"Uhm..." Chris raised an eyebrow, "Seriously what?"
"These kids!" The ottercoon threw up his paws, "Normally they won't leave me alone! Every damn little problem they have: they come straight to me! 'Matt, I'm sad!' 'Matt, I'm angry!' 'Matt, I have a boo-boo!' 'Matt, he's touching me!' 'Matt, I want him to touch me!'" He rubbed the top of his muzzle, "But today I can't even MAKE them talk to me!"
"Wait...I'm confused." Chris held up a finger, "Do you WANT them to come to you...or do you want them to leave you alone?"
"I don't even know!" Matt threw up his paws again, turning to walk to the kitchen, "I need a drink."
Sirrus at his heels, the lion grunted and followed, "Aren't you about to be driving?"
In the back yard, Luke stood feet from a bench. Behind the flora was a bench in gazebo he'd spent some time on the night before, but Alex was sitting on a different bench, closer to the house. One neither of them knew a certain wolf and ottercoon had shared two months earlier during an entirely different set of drama.
Alex heard the raccoon come into the back yard, and could see who it was from the corner of his eye, but he hadn't raised his head to look.
The raccoon, only now done spinning after his kiss, slowly padded over and sat beside his friend, but had no clue what to say.
"I'm sorry." Alex spoke first, head still hung.
Luke sighed softly. "It's okay..."
"No it's not. I..." The fox shook his head and looked up, "...it doesn't matter how wrong I think you are. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You..." he hung his head again, "...you of all people don't deserve that, right now."
Luke shook his head, "I've been yelled at before."
Alex paused for a long moment, before smiling softly, "I'm glad you came back." He sat up straight finally, "I was worried I'd...lost you too."
"Lost me?" The raccoon turned to him, blinking.
"It would fall in line, right?" Alex shrugged, "I already lost Jasyn...and probably Duncan and any of our other mutual friends with him. But..." he eyed the raccoon, "...I really never expected you to turn on me too..."
Luke ignored his curiosity about 'Duncan,' for now, "I didn't turn on you."
"Could have fooled me." The fox huffed.
"I just didn't turn on Jasyn..."
"I never asked you too."
"I just don't understand Alex." The raccoon shrugged, "How can you just leave him like this? You've always acted like he's everything to you. And you're...I know you're everything to him."
"Am I?"
"Of course!" Luke chirped, "I...I mean, yesterday in the threesome...I was the only one who didn't...didn't cum, right? And after you left, he..." he paused in thought for a moment, "...even after you broke up with him, he wouldn't even help me finish...and it was because you weren't there."
"Really?" The fox couldn't help but show a slight smile.
"Doesn't...doesn't that mean something? I mean...this is all about the cheating, isn't it?" Luke waved a paw toward the house, as if motioning toward yesterday's events, "And that proves something, right? He had the chance...and you and he weren't even a couple, but he still didn't take it. Not even to help me out!"
Alex opened his muzzle to correct his friend: to tell Luke that the cheating wasn't why he'd broken up with the wolf. As usual, though, the 14-year-old didn't pause for breath long enough for the fox to get a word in.
"And e-even still...I mean...it's not like we actually did anything, when it DID happen, right?" The raccoon held out a paw, "Or...not anything real, anyway. I don't get why it was worth...worth you leaving him. It was just some pawing and a kiss! It...it's not like it would have gone any farther."
"There you go again!" Alex snapped, forgetting both about wanting to correct Luke AND about his earlier assertion that he shouldn't yell.
Luke recoiled slightly, "What?"
"You keep..." The fox's paws shook lightly, "...you keep saying that like it makes it better!"
"Doesn't it?" Luke threw up his paws.
"No!" Alex yelled, pointing at his friend, "First of all, Luke, you don't KNOW that it wouldn't have gone farther! And more importantly, it shouldn't have even gone as far as it did!" He hit the bench with his paw, "There should have never been a kiss or a grope at all! Especially not with your dick actually out of your pants!"
"But it could have been a lot worse!" The raccoon snapped back, "It's not like he fucked me, or...or like it was even something we'd planned! It just happened."
"So what? Put yourself in my shoes. What if it was that cat of yours..." Alex paused, drawing a blank for a second, "...uhm...Riddick?"
Luke blinked, "What about him?"
"What if he and I did something like that without you there?" Alex smiled, though it was an angry grin, "Especially if you were just about to GET there, and we couldn't even WAIT on you?"
"R-Riddick and I aren't..." Luke stammered, "I mean, he's not my..."
Alex stopped him, "That's not the point, Luke!"
"Fine! Maybe I would be upset!" The raccoon leaned forward heatedly, "But, if he WAS my boyfriend, I would love him enough to not just be a coward and LEAVE him over it!"
Alex closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back and looking away, "If you hate me so fucking much because of this, why are you even out here talking to me?"
"Because you're my friend!"
The fox turned his head back, angrily, "That doesn't stop you from screaming at me and calling me a coward, though, apparently!"
Luke recoiled, only then realizing how angry he'd gotten, "I'm sorry...I..."
"You should be!" Alex cut him off, "You don't have a clue what I'm going through...and the last thing I need is my only friend talking to me like that."
"I'm sorry, okay!?" The raccoon yelped, tears collecting in the corners of his eyes, "I just...I don't get why what we did was worth you breaking up with Jasyn!"
"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier, but you wouldn't take a breath so I could!" Alex shook his head, "That's not why I broke up with him!"
"That what was it?" Luke narrowed his eyes, "The threesome?"
"No...or yes..." the fox put a paw on his forehead, "Or...not exactly..."
"You can't blame him for the threesome, Alex. It was your idea!"
"I know it was! And it was one of the biggest, stupid, fucking mistakes I've ever made!" Alex leaned farther back, hanging his head over the back of the bench and looking up at the sky, "I should never have let it happen. I should never have let him fuck you."
"But you can't be mad at him for it, either." The raccoon put a paw on Alex's shoulder, the first time they'd touched, "You were there, you were involved, and he would NEVER have done it if you hadn't said it was okay!"
"I'm not mad that he did it. Hell..." Alex let out a short laugh, "...I'm not even mad!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not mad that he had sex with you!" The fox sat up straight again, "I'm not upset that he agreed to the threesome, or that you agreed too, or that he topped you, or that he was with you before he was with me..." He shrugged, "I'm not mad about any of it."
"Then why would you break up with him?"
"It wasn't to punish him, Luke." Alex looked at his friend through half closed eyes, "Him fucking you didn't bother me...but HOW he fucked you did."
The raccoon moved his paw from Alex's shoulder "How he fucked me?"
"How rough...how brutal he was." Alex sighed, "He basically raped you, Luke."
Luke got quiet, looking around at the plants and the ground, going back over this day and the last before responding, "But I...I've gotten over it. I've forgiven him. Why can't you?"
The fox shook his head, "It's not about forgiveness."
"Then what IS it about?"
"Peter!" Alex barked, "Did you forget about that, Luke? What happened to me when I was nine?" He clenched his paws and looked away, "When Jasyn was...was fucking you, yesterday, all I could see was my brother! I can't...I can barely look at Jasyn right now without feeling...feeling scared and sick and...I mean, what if he loses control with me, too!?"
"One time." The raccoon stated blankly.
"What?" Alex looked back.
"It was one time, Alex!" Luke raised his voice again, "After all the love you say he's shown you, and how amazing he's been...and now, after just ONE time of him being a little too rough, you're gonna' lump him in with Peter and dump him!?" He threw up his paws, "That's not enough to paint him as...some sort of violent rapist, Alex! I consented to it! And he...he just got carried away..."
The fox clenched and seethed, opening his mouth to argue, but stopped. He only had the one argument: it wasn't just one time. Two months ago, Jasyn raped Peter...fucked him 'til he bled, and loved it. Sure, it was revenge for Alex...but he still enjoyed it. He enjoyed it so much, that it's what made him realize he could have fun with gay sex.
That, plus his outbursts at Luke, and then the threesome yesterday...it was more than enough to paint a frightening picture for Alex. But he couldn't tell Luke, that. No matter what...he couldn't let anyone know who didn't have to know, what Jasyn did to Peter.
Even if that meant losing this argument...or letting Luke hate him for not having a "good enough reason."
"There's no way, Alex..." Luke continued, "...no way that that one time could have been enough for this."
"Really?" Alex narrowed his eyes, "Do you really think you have any idea what it was like to go through what I did with Peter? And now the trial, and having to relive and recount all of it, ALL over again!?"
"No..." The raccoon sighed and looked down, searching for some way to combat that, "I don't...but..."
"But what?"
"But who's been there for you through all of it?" Luke looked back up, "Who's loved you and taken care of you, and held your hand through everything? And now you're going to just turn your back on him and break his heart!?"
"I might not be the victim here, Luke..." the fox pointed at the younger fur, "...but neither is he."
"And he's also not the bad guy!" Luke grabbed his friend's shoulder again, "Peter is!"
"Why is it so important to you to defend him? I don't get why you care so much. I mean, Luke..." Alex took Luke's paw from his shoulder and held it, "We're not the victims for a reason. It's because YOU'RE the victim. Luke, I know what that's like...to be used like that. And I just don't get...I mean why would you defend him after that?"
"Because...because I don't just want friends, Alex." The raccoon squeezed the fox's paw, "Jasyn...he loves you. He takes care of you. He's devoted himself to you. He even turned GAY for you! And I would give anything for that! I pray..." He looked up at the sky for a moment, "I'm not even religious, and I PRAY to have someone like that! And I...I can't just sit here and watch you throw it away when you HAVE IT! I'm not just fighting for you two because I feel bad for Jasyn...because he's hurt..." he grabbed Alex's paw with both of his, managing a soft smile, "...but because I don't want you to make a horrible, horrible mistake...and give up something amazing.
"But why do you even care?" Alex added his other paw to the entangled fingers, "Why are you trying so hard to help us?"
"You have to ask?" Luke laughed, "B-before Riddick...you...you were my only friends."
The fox faked a laugh of his own, "Not very good ones! I mean...fuck, Luke. The...the rape? It was my fault too!" He squeezed his friend's paws, "I put you in that situation, and then when it was happening, I was...was so caught up in the blow job, that..."
"That doesn't mean anything to me."
"How can it not?"
"I...I've just...I've wanted friends for so long, Alex. Yesterday...what happened yesterday..." The raccoon let go of Alex's paws, "I could deal with that a hundred times over or more...and it would STILL be worth it! It would be more than worth it, if that's what it took just...just to have this last month I've had with you two." He moved closer, looking right in the fox's eyes, "I go to school every day, and spend it all alone at best...and being constantly bullied at worst. But for the last month I've had friends! I've had people...other than my family...who care about me. And nothing that happened yesterday can even put a dent in how great that's been."
Alex shook his head, "That still doesn't make it okay..."
"It does for me. And, besides, no one..." Luke put a paw on Alex's thigh, "...no one's ever cared if they hurt me, before this. And yesterday and today you and Jasyn have...you've been genuinely sorry. That means a lot..."
The fox looked down at his friend's paw, putting his own on top. He was silent at first, running all of this over in his head before responding, "If...if you really appreciate it so much...our friendship..." he looked up, "...could you at least do me this one favor?"
Luke nodded without a thought.
"Just...try to understand what I'm going through right now." Alex took a breath, "I know you can't REALLY understand what this is all like -- Peter, the trial, Jasyn changing -- and I know I haven't exactly been the best friend..."
"Yes you have." The raccoon cut him off, "...the best friend I've ever known."
"If...if that's really true, then..." Alex smiled hopefully, "I know it may be asking a lot...but, could you just do the same for me, and let this go to be here for me? I just...I need you right now. I need a friend. Please don't make me face this alone."
Luke, more than anyone, knew what it was like to need a friend. He nodded again, "It's not asking too much..."
Without another word, the two leaned forward, pulling each other tight into a hug, and simply held onto one another in the back yard of the "Cameron Estate."
~
There we go! The soap opera, Forbidden, continues!!
This has been a complete and total re-write. I wrote this, from beginning to end today...because it was almost entirely dialogue, and that dialogue had to be drastically altered, because it was referencing the altered events of Forbidden chapters 14, 15, 16, & 17 ^_^
That means that I wrote the lines and actions of all the characters involved this time around. This time it wasn't an RP. So, the following credits are for the ORIGINAL version...the story that I based THIS version off of.
* Starring: F. R. Borealis as Alex Collin Moen Riddick Dumar Eden and Eric Matthew Cameron Cecil B. North as Lucas Joseph Trammel Christopher Phillip Eden and Sirrus *
Cecil was a writer here as well, back in the Yiffstar days. If you want to check out the stuff he wrote back then, go ahead and look him up. His username on here is: Cecil_88
Oh no! Can it be? Did this chapter have an actual ending!? Yes! A chapter of Forbidden / The Cameron Hotel just brought the story to a resting point! And it's about damn time, too! I'm betting you guys were about ready for a chapter that WASN'T a cliffhanger! But, of course...just because it's not a cliffhanger, doesn't mean there aren't still lingering questions. For instance...will Alex & Jasyn find a way to reconcile? How will the impending trial go? How will Chris & Riddick's continued reunion go, especially when Riddick's homosexuality inevitably comes to bare? Are Riddick and Luke soon to become a couple, or will they just stay friends? All this and maybe even a little more as The Cameron Hotel continues!
Anyway, thanks for reading!
I welcome any feedback! Comment or PM me here, or email me at frostborealis[at]gmail.com
See you for the next 35 chapters of Forbidden! ^_^