LoveSick - Epilogue

[xrockoutx116.livejournal.com]

You guys definitely know how to make a girl feel good after about a four-month hiatus. I come browsing through here looking for a good read, and what do I find? I won an award for 'Best Portrayal of Jeff' for my fic 'Be Here Now'! It made me feel so happy.

So, since I saw that I was also nominated for the unfinished series for LoveSick, I figured what better way to get out my happiness than by writing my long over-due epilogue? After a four month wait, here it is.

Title - LoveSick
Author - madge (xrockoutx116 gets annoying to type. i always make mistakes in it)
Pairings - Brad/Chip, Greg/Jeff
Summary - After Jeff is released from the hospital, everything should go back to normal...right?
Rating - mild R
Word Count - 2581
Author's Note - It's over! :( I can't believe it. After *counting on fingers* seven months of being together for LoveSick, it's over. But it was fun and I enjoyed writing this one. I hope you guys liked it too!

Oh, one other thing. The epilogue I was planning on writing, I thought about it this morning, and it was really really weird. So I changed it a bit to tie up some lose ends in the story. It might seem a little over the top, but I think it turned out well.


 

Two Months Later

“You keep talking like that and you’ll have nothing more to say cause I’ll rip out your voice box,” Brad mocked to Greg, sitting down at the table next to Chip. Chip laughed heartily before entwining his hand with Brad's.

Greg simply flipped him off. "Hey. It's true. I can't help it if you have the color coordination skills of a blind 87 year old man. Especially when you're dating a guy like Chip who actually cares about what he wears and doesn't just make his shirts out of old curtains..."

"THAT NEVER HAPPENED!" Brad exclaimed, jumping up from his seat but still keeping a hold onto Chip's hand. Chip simply laughed as he watched the two go back and forth. From his point of view, it was highly amusing, almost like an elderly married couple. Brad sighed angrily before he sat back down, glaring at Greg, who was grinning smugly.

"You know I only do this because you get so pissed off? I could care less if you wear ugly shirts," Greg smirked, taking a sip out of his beer. Brad couldn’t help but notice that Greg had still managed to include the small jab in his comment.

Looking at Greg, who sat there trying to look as innocent as possible, Brad grinned devilishly. "For that matter then, maybe you should start investing in something that will make you less ugly. Or perhaps some Rogaine?" Chip began to laugh loudly, hitting his hand on the table in enthusiasm. Greg simply raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just saying," Brad continued, putting his hands up in defense. "You're with a guy like Jeff now, who's very cute, unlike you for that matter. Maybe you should look into that Rogaine..." The smile grew on Brad's face as he spoke, starting to chuckle.

"Why you little-" Greg started.

"God Brad. Calling me cute and getting him all riled up? What have I done to deserve this?" Jeff stated as he climbed into the booth with the other three.

"You didn't die, so I think we can call it even."

"Aw, how sweet. 'Jeff, because you're not dead from that fucking virus, I'm gonna call you cute.'" Jeff mocked, moving closer to Greg. Greg wrapped his arm around Jeff as Jeff kissed him on the cheek.

"Where were you?" Greg asked curiously. Ever since Jeff had been released from the hospital, Greg tried to remain as protective of him as possible without seeming to much like it. Jeff would hate it, and the other two would give him a hard time about it. It was basically his little secret.

Jeff picked up the unopened bottle of beer and looked at it before putting it back down, grimacing. Ever since the scene at the bar with Ryan, Jeff hadn't drank. He was still very hesitant about it, even two months later.

He started picking at the label with his fingernail. "Giving Drew a hard time," he muttered quietly. "Or at least trying to."

Greg looked at Jeff, feeling a bit of anxiety wash over him. He grabbed his hand under the table. The younger man was staring at the beer bottle in front of him, playing with the paper on it. Almost as soon as Greg had asked where he had been, all of the life had dropped out of Jeff. Jeff had gone to work today to talk to Drew and fill out some papers that would be given to the producers saying he really was sick and he had needed the medical leave and blah blah blah.

"Jeff, what's going on?" Chip asked quietly in response to the cryptic statement Jeff had just left them with.

He remained silent. Dropping his hands into his lap, he stared down at the ground. A few moments of awkward silence passed in which all Greg wanted to do was grab him and shake him to tell him what was wrong.

Jeff sighed. "Drew fired me."

As he gauged the reactions from the three of them, he knew that none of them had been expecting this. Which made him regret telling them. It would just drive even more of a rift between them and Drew. He was still the new guy. He looked from Chip to Brad, and then finally to Greg, who was looking at him with mix of sadness and anger.

"What? He - he can't," Brad whispered.

"He obviously can, because he did," Jeff scoffed, cradling his head in his free hand. "I sat there in the chair, while he apologized over and over, saying he didn't want to do it, but he had to. And then he ripped my contract in half, saying that I no longer could work for him."

Greg dropped his head. He felt sick to his stomach. He had a feeling as to why this was happening. He knew Drew would never do something like that. Drew didn't have the heart to fire someone, especially someone like Jeff. But someone else did, and Drew was perhaps too much of a pushover sometimes...

"On what grounds could he do that?" Chip asked, shaking his head in confusion. "This doesn't seem plausible in any way."

Jeff swallowed. "He said that because I didn't any notice before I got sick, he can't believe that I was sick for three months. There's something in the fine print of some contract I signed saying that about sick leave. So because I never called in sick, I lost my job."

The other three remained silent. This couldn't be happening. If Jeff had gotten fired over something like that, what was it going to mean for them? Were they next in line, their contracts in a pile ready to be destroyed if they simply made an error in judgment?

This was becoming too much for him to watch. Greg slammed his fist down on the table. "We can't let him get away with this."

Jeff cocked an eyebrow. "Who?"

"It's not Drew that wanted you fired. Drew just got caught in the middle and couldn't say no to him," Greg replied. Brad's mouth dropped open.

"Are you saying-"

"Mmhmm. This has Ryan’s name all over it.” Greg thought that maybe, maybe if there was a hint of kindness in Ryan Stiles’ body, he’d leave Jeff alone and forget about making his life a nightmare. But instead, he figures out a way to make it so that Jeff gets fired.

“Well, what are we going to do? Confront Stiles?” Chip asked.

Greg looked over to Jeff, who was staring down at the table, a perplexed look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it a second later.

“Jeff?”

“Don’t do anything,” Jeff replied, not taking his eyes off of the table.

“What? We have to do something. We can’t just-” Greg started, his voice rising in volume. Jeff placed a finger over his lips, quieting him.

“What I meant was that you guys don’t have to do anything. I’m going to take care of this myself. You’ve already done enough for me.” Greg started to open his mouth to say something but Jeff pressed his lips together. Chuckling softly, he whispered, “It’s okay. I can take care of myself now.” He kissed Greg softly on the lips before sliding out of the booth and walking out of the bar.

***

As Greg sat in the living room of the house, waiting and watching the clock, he realized how much had changed over the past few months. He had gone from being so sad and depressed to actually enjoying his life. May sound pathetic, but to Greg, that was a big deal.

And now, here he was at 3:30 in the morning, almost five hours from when he had last seen Jeff, still waiting for him to return home. He hated this feeling that was gnawing away in the pit of his stomach. Worry. He knew it. He’d never felt it before in his life. Not even with Ryan.

He really needed to stop doing that. Ryan was over and done with. Ryan had been over and done with for years. He had obviously moved on. The relationship with Ryan was light-years away from what was happening now with Jeff.

He didn’t want to think about what was happening at Ryan’s right now. Ryan was hard to deal with he wanted some he didn’t get. If he set his eyes on something, he was going to make sure that he eventually got it, no matter what he had to do. It had been like that with his job, with Greg, with Colin...

And now with Jeff.

Greg groaned into a pillow. He should never have let Jeff leave. Never have let him go to Ryan’s. By doing that, it was just another way of showing him that he didn’t love him. Which he did. More than anything in the world.

And if Ryan Stiles thinks that he’s going to get away with something like this, he’s got another thing coming to him...

“Pillow over your face? Again? I thought we’d moved past that,” a voice teased as they switched the overhead light on. Greg removed the pillow from over his head as he bit back a grin. Jeff leaned against the door frame, smiling widely. He walked over to the couch and sat next to Greg. AS he did, Greg couldn’t help but notice how he had a fresh black eye.

Once Jeff had sat down on the couch, Greg asked, “So, where’s the shiner from?”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Come on Greg. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“He punched you in the face. That’s not that big of a deal?” Greg questioned simply.

“And I broke his nose!” Jeff retorted.

“That doesn’t mat- you did what?” Greg started, only to start whispering once he heard the last part of Jeff’s statement.

“I broke his nose after he punched me in the face,” Jeff explained. “The simple response when someone does something like that you is to fight back, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, I guess...never mind that. Could you just tell me what the hell happened in that house, because I can already tell that this is going to be more than I expected it to be?” Greg replied, shaking his head.

Jeff sighed. “Fine. I went to Ryan’s, basically looking for an answer as to why he did what he did. He answered the door, with that sick twisted grin on his face, and right away I wanted to punch him. But I didn’t. I simply asked if I could talk to him. He grinned and invited me in. He offered me wine, but I told him I don’t drink anymore, which he found amusing.” Jeff stopped, and looked at Greg. “I knew he wasn’t just being a good host either.”

“So he asked me what my issue was, and I asked him right out. He laughed and said that it was nothing against me; he just didn’t like people who fought against him. He liked making their lives miserable, and if this was the only way he could make mine unbearable, he would see it through, unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Unless I bought him an Easy-Bake oven. What do you think he wanted?” Jeff snapped before placing his head in his hands, taking deep breaths.

Greg frowned. He wrapped his arms around Jeff and pulled him close. “Did – did you?”

Jeff shook his head slowly. “No.”

“But what about your job?” Greg muttered.

“That’s where the blackmail comes in,” Jeff responded. Greg could immediately hear the smile on his face. He released his grip on Jeff, who turned to him.

“What?”

“I’m blackmailing him. With the events the happened at the bar. Traumatic, yes, but they came in handy,” Jeff mused, looking very happy.

“How can you possibly use something like that against Ryan? He was the one who wanted it.”

“Colin.”

Greg was silent as the wheels in his head began to turn. Ryan tried to take Jeff home...Ryan and Colin were still together...which Jeff could spill the beans to Colin at any time, because Ryan obviously hadn’t told him yet.

“You, Jeffery, are too clever. Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Greg laughed.

Jeff cuddled up next to Greg, smiling. “Now that would be impossible, Greg. You on my bad side? It could never happen.”

“It already has. Multiple times!”

“You were dealing with a temperamental mono patient. What do you expect? And you weren’t so lovable either...”

“I’m always lovable.” Jeff snorted in amusement, but he didn’t respond to that. Greg’s laughter died down. “Wait. If you’re using the blackmail to get your job back, where’d the black eye come from?”

“Oh, you know. From a fist.”

“Jeff.”

Jeff groaned. “I was about to leave, and Ryan was already in a bad mood, so I figured I’d make it worse. For him. After all of he did to me...and to you. So when I was at the door, I turned like I was going to say good-bye, and instead, I punched him in the face. What I forgot to do was run like hell and got a sucker punch in return.”

Greg’s tensed shoulders slumped at the thought of Jeff, punching Ryan with him in mind. Jeff still ceased to amaze him. It all made him feel like he, in the end, had made the right choice by not running. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“You’re not mad I did that, are you? Cause if you are, well, I’d have this black eye all for nothing. I’d be pretty pissed,” Jeff asked, raising his eyebrow at Greg.

Greg shook his head. “Far from mad. It was...thoughtful of you.”

“Oh look, Greggie’s getting all sentimental on me here,” Jeff mocked, laying his head in Greg’s lap.

Greg smiled down at him. “You wish I wasted those emotions on you. But if you keep this up, I’ll give you another black eye to match that one.”

“HA! That would be something I’d like to see. Like you could catch me.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Greg gasped.

Jeff began to laugh. “No. Never. Just slow.”

Greg pushed Jeff off of his lap, who went sprawling onto the floor with a yelp. Greg stepped over him with a sigh. Jeff picked his head up, grabbing onto the coffee table. “What was that about?”

“I’m going to bed. I can’t go to bed with you lying on top of me.”

“Why are you going to bed?”

“Well, it is 4 in the morning. Do you have a better idea for how I can spend my time, because if you do, clue me in.”

A grin broke out on Jeff’s face as he pulled himself off the floor. Greg’s eyes widened as he began to run up the stairs away from Jeff. Jeff raced after him, trying to grab onto his pant legs at every chance he had. Once they finally reached the upper level, Jeff was greeted by a door slamming in his face. He watched the door for a minute before he realized it wasn’t opening. Feeling himself deflate, he began to walk away.

Until a pair of hands grabbed him from behind the door and pulled him into the room, kicking the door behind him.

“What was that about me being slow again?”

Jeff laughed. “Shut up and kiss me already.”

-

END!