Return To Simplicity By Patricia Rating: PG? PG-13? Something like that. Oh hell, you’ll read it anyway. Characters: Ryan, Colin Author’s Note: For old time’s sake, I’m getting back to the roots. A Ryan/Colin story. Enjoy! “How have you been?” I looked upon the man at my doorstep. He hadn’t changed much in the four years we’d been apart. Four whole years. It was hard to believe, but it was true. Here he was again. A few more wrinkles, more gray in his hair (though I could tell he’d been dyeing it), but he was still the same. “Well enough. Colin…” He stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. I rubbed his back, feeling his muscles loosening as I did so. I still remembered exactly what points on his back made him comfortable. I learned long ago what certain things did to his body. “Please, come in.” We entered the living room together and he sat down on the couch. I skipped over to the refrigerator and yelled out, “What would you like to drink?” “You should know that by now. We didn’t…” He paused a second. I could see that he was thinking about what he was trying to say. “We didn’t stay away from each other for four years so you could forget my favorite drink.” “Right. Rum and coke.” I mixed the drink and brought it out to him, and just then I noticed what he was wearing. It was typical Ryan-wear. A ratty, old t-shirt, jeans, and his favorite pair of white sneakers. He still had them after all these years. He grabbed the drink and took a swig out of the glass. After putting it down on my coffee table, he looked at me as I sat down. I wondered what he was thinking. ‘Well,’ I told myself, ‘He was the one that called you. Obviously he doesn’t hate you. It’s a start. Maybe…no. Don’t go there.’ “Um…I guess you’re wondering why I called…why I waited four years.” He was looking directly into my eyes. I knew that he only did that when he was about to say something very important. I just listened, and stared into his green eyes that were once so bright. Darkness and pain had worked their way into them and made them dull. Shadows of their former selves. “I…I’ve been going through some rough shit. After Sam…God, where do I start? About six months after we…you left, he killed someone. Jeremy. He was a bully at school. He’d been picking on Sam for the past two years…I guess he couldn’t…take it anymore. I couldn’t believe it. I ranted, I screamed, Pat just stood there sobbing. A few days after that, I went into his room and we talked. We decided that the best thing to do was…to turn him in. “It was…Mackenzie still hasn’t fully recovered. Pat still gets teary eyed when he’s mentioned. It’s been so hard, Colin. My son is in jail. We visit him, but still…my son killed someone.” Ryan suddenly burst into tears and nearly fell on top of me. I was so surprised by the outburst. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. “I’m…I’m so sorry. Sam was…such a special kid. Ryan…I don’t know what to say…” He jerked his head up suddenly. Tears were streaming down his face, his beet red face. I wanted to tell him something that would ease the pain as he stared into my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, his lips came down on mine. I was now lying down on the couch, Ryan on top of me, our lips locked. His hand cupped my face. He was holding on as if he would die if he let go. I was shocked. After four years of not seeing each other, his son…he could come back to me with such passion? I didn’t want to fight it, though. My hand still fit comfortably on his chest. The feel of his thighs on mine sent a fire through my body I hadn’t felt in…four years. “Ryan,” I finally said when he had let me go. “I…” “Colin, it’s…it’s okay. Just let me.” We spent the night together, reconciling differences, talking about Sam…about us. I knew that I had to love him with all my heart for the rest of my life. If I didn’t, we would both die. We needed each other. It took us four years to realize that, but we did it. We need each other. Forever and for always. The End