The Ideas of Love

Chapter 04.

"What am I doing here?" Tyler asked Toni.
"Julia instructed me to bring you. So here we are.." Toni arched his brow slightly. He's tired of Tyler being so bossy, and he wants Tyler because he knows Lewis will scare Tyler out of coming out. When he asked Julia if Tyler could be his second chair, she said she didn't mind. As a result, Tony dragged Tyler along to the meeting with Lewis.
Teddy Lewis walked in with a smug expression on his face as the door opened. Debbie, his wife, chuckled with him, as if this was a joke for them both. They get a little too handsy and laugh like true villains. Tyler despises it so much that he wishes to punch the couple. Toni shakes the Lewises' hands, and Tyler nods. He does not want Lewis to have any contact with him.
"So, I am not pleading guilty.." Teddy laughed as he kissed his wife.
"Mr. Lewis, you can't do that. The most you can do is manslaughter, because you have a dozen people as eye witnesses." Toni did not even flinch at the absurdity of Lewis' demand.
"Oh come on.. We can pay the witnesses and silence them. I had more plans to eradicate all these gay men. I'm going to be a mayor and ban all gay activities." Lewis chuckled.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Mr. Lewis. Look, just take the plea. Nothing else we can do.." Toni flipped around the stack of papers documenting the evidence.
"Just take it. Mr. Lewis." Tyler finally opened his mouth. The fact that Lewis is trying to be a mayor although he has openly killed people just proves that Lewis is just a psychopath.
"But, gay is a sin. So we need to punish them. You know that, right?" Lewis stared at Tyler.
"Oh, great to hear I am a sinner. Sorry, Toni. I just don't want this anymore. Fire me, I don't care." Tyler stood up and grabbed his stuff. He walked away. He went to Julia's office. Julia was sitting in front of her computer and staring at Tyler, who barged in. "Julia, I am tired of Toni's harrassment. He'll probably fire me after I come out in front of that homophobe." Tyler shook his head and closed his eyes.
"You said you are gay in front of Lewis? Are you that stupid?" Julia is not angry with Tyler, she is scared of his safety now.
"I'm sorry.. I just explode.." Tyler sighed.
"Ty, you need to leave the town. At least until the trial. I can't let you be in danger in this town. He had followers, a cult. They are not scared of killing people like you or Emily." Julia rubbed her head. "Bring Emily and Casey with you. And tell Chris and Rene to get out of the city too."
"What? Why?" Tyler didn't know why Julia was so paranoid.
"Ty, he is a dangerous man. Since he knows that you are gay, he will dig around for other people here. Just keep yourself safe for now. Okay? And bring the other one with you if you can. But please keep Emily and Casey safe.." Julia sighed. "I'm serious. Grab your laptop and leave now. Please.."
"Okay.." Ty bit his lip and turned around.
"Ty, used the burner. Don't use your phone. Okay?" Julia knew what Lewis and his gang could do.
"Okay.." Tyler grabbed his laptop and his burner phone. He scooped Chris and Rene before he told Emily what Julia had just said to him. They set up a meeting point and said they would meet up in an hour. Tyler told Jeff to meet him up there with him too and told Jeff to bring his RV. He's not taking any chances with Jeff's safety.
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"So, where are we going?" Jeff questioned as he began driving his RV.
"We're heading north, to Massachusetts. I have a cabin in there, and there's plenty of room for all of us." Emily stated.
"How come you told a murderer you were gay again?" Jeff inquired of his friend for the tenth time.
"Okay, I was irritated. He's such a smug jerk." Tyler continued to sulk.
"I told Emily last night that taking him as a client was a bad decision." Casey made a smug sound, but all she wanted to say to Emily was, "I told you so."
"Well, at least Julia thought about our safety first.." Rene rolled his eyes.
"You should stop blaming Tyler, Jeff. He stood up for us!" Finally, Chris joined the conversation.
"He wanted to be in the closet for thirty-four years and then decided the best time to come out was in front of a homophobic man who killed a gay man." Jeff is still angry. He had to disappear when his relationship with Oliver was on a rocky road. Might as well just think it's done.
"I'm sorry.." Tyler said softly.
"You are the reason that we are in this mess! Sorry won't cut it!" Jeff yelled at Tyler.
"I know.. I'm sorry.." Tyler accepted Jeff's anger. Because Jeff was right. He could just shut his mouth and let Lewis rant about gays.
"Oh, come on, Jeff. Do you think that he would not figure it out? I mean, look at me!" Rene protested.
"Stop fighting! I'm tired of all the fighting about this psychopath!" Emily yelled and put an end to all the fights.
After that, it was mostly a silent ride to Massachusetts for them. They arrived a little before lunch. While Chris and Casey drove to the small town to get some supplies and food, the rest of them cleaned up and prepared the house. It's a good-sized three-bedroom, three-bathroom cabin. And shockingly, Emily had a lot of guns in there. Emily said that she used this cabin a few times as a safe house. Emily handled a lot of criminal cases, and she was in the military when she was younger. This is not something that is unusual for her. Emily gave the two fully loaded handguns to Jeff and Tyler, who were both raised in families that hunted seasonally, so she gave them. Jeff still hunts sometimes, but Tyler has not used a gun for so long, he was nervous when he was handed the gun.
"Why are we hiding? Can Lewis really track us down?" Rene asked.
"Oh yes he can. His previous lawyer has a second cousin that is gay. He found him and beat him up. He's a psychopath and a homophobic man." Emily shook her head. "Really should have pushed Julia to reject this case. I'm worried about Casey. She never really does well with this kind of pressure." She sighed.
"Emily, I'm sorry.." Tyler apologized again.
"It's not your fault. He will know sooner or later. It was Toni's. He offered to be his lawyer. Stupid gambling addict.." Emily really hates Toni for this.
"Ty, can we talk in private?" Jeff wanted to yell at Ty, but not in front of Emily. Emily scared him out.
"Yeah sure.." Tyler walked out with Jeff.
Rene sat with Emily in the living room. "Do you hate me?" Rene suddenly asked.
"Huh? No... Why are you asking me that?" Emily stared at Rene.
"I just feel like you don't really like me. We never hang out or anything. I know you and Tyler are close. Tyler is like your office boyfriend." Rene chuckled.
"I just.. I don't know Rene.. I'm not a friendly person.." She shrugged. The thing is, she's always busy with work and she likes working with Tyler. She never thought that Rene felt like she didn't like him.
"Being transgender is hard, and when Tyler asked me if I wanted to work with him, I was just so happy. Because Casey writes the best things about LGBTQ people, I assumed you were similar to Casey.But you are a great lawyer anyway. The firm was not what I imagined though.." Rene sighed.
"We're planning to kick Toni out. He's just bad news. Maybe that would change our client base." Emily smiled bitterly.
"Probably not. But I'm still glad that Toni will be out. He's an asshole. He was just so mean to me, Chris, and Tyler." Rene rolled his eyes.
"I know.. Tyler stayed because I begged him to. I just don't trust anyone else in the firm." Emily thinks that she should not have said that, but this feels like an intimate conversation that she can open up to Rene for the first time.
"Tyler is a good guy; he just sucked at picking a girl to date. He is in love with Jeff. He told us multiple times when he's drunk. He always talked about Jeff when he was drunk." Rene chuckled.
"He wants to be in a polyamorous relationship. Jeff is not. He told me that if he admitted his love to Jeff, it would only hurt him. And I know that feeling. We are close, me and Tyler. He told me a lot of his struggles when we worked on a case. He's sharp, but Toni decided to hijack him when he was promoted to partner and made him a divorce lawyer. Which he hates." Emily sighed. "I'm sorry.. I know we are not close, but I just have a lot of problems in my personal life lately. It's nice to talk to you.."
"I'm thinking of stopping the hormones and asking Tyler to donate his sperm. I want to have a baby, but I don't want to be with a man when I'm pregnant.." Rene held his breath. "Since we're sharing something personal, might as well, right?" Rene laughed sarcastically.
"I think Tyler would say yes. He likes you so much. He.." Emily held back a little. "When you were about to join in, I said yes, and Toni said no. So Julia made Tyler give up his salary for your three-month probation salary. So, those first three months of salary you got were Tyler's. Because he said to us that he's willing to do anything for you. But, please don't tell Tyler about this. He doesn't want you to know." Emily stopped for a bit. "But that's not all. Every pro-bono case you handle gets paid with Tyler's salary. And that's why you're still making a good salary while you're taking all these pro-bono cases."
"What?! That stupid man!" Rene shook his head.
"Tyler adores your work, and he said he wants you to keep getting cases that fit with your style. He said that I believed in him when he was nothing, so he wants to do that to you and Chris." Emily smiled.
"Can I hug you.. I feel like I want to hug Tyler, but.. you know.." Rene bites his lower lips.
"Sure.. come here.." Emily gave Rene a hug.
Meanwhile, Tyler and Jeff sit on the bench outside the cabin. Jeff wants to yell at Tyler, but his best friend just sits quietly next to him. So he hesitates, but besides, Tyler said sorry before.
"Jeff.. I want to come out to my parents.." Tyler broke the silence.
"Why?" Jeff wonders what made Tyler want to finally come out.
"That moment when I thought that Lewis might kill me, all I could think about was you. I love you.." Tyler sighed.
"I have a boyfriend.." Jeff put his hand on his face. This is really bad. He wants two men at the same time. Of course, he wants to be with Tyler, but he is in love with Oliver too. He knew that his relationship with Oliver had just started and had hit a rough patch. But Tyler will want to have another woman on his side.
 "I know.." Tyler knew that Oliver was a good man. "I just.." He shook his head. "Never mind.." Tyler stood up.
"Ty.." Jeff sighed. "Please stay. We need to talk this out. Okay?" Jeff took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "You are the only friend I have and I don't want to mess this up.."
"You have Cheryl and, well.. Oliver.." Tyler smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess. I.." He took a deep breath. "I love you, Jeff.." He bowed down and kissed Jeff's cheeks. "I will never stop being your friend. You were always there for me.." Tyler's eyes were flooded with tears. "I love you so much.." He started to sob. "I'm sorry.."
Jeff chuckled. He pulled Tyler closer and kissed his lips. "You know, I love you.." He kissed his best friend again. 
Tyler pushed Jeff away. "You can't do that. You have a boyfriend.."
"And you want a girl, not a boy.." Jeff felt like he'd been rejected yet again, just as he was beginning to believe that something might finally happen between him and Tyler.
"That's not it.. Jeff.." Tyler wanted to shout to the world that he wanted Jeff. He wants him so much that he starts to think that he is willing to give up being polyamorous again if Jeff agrees to be with him.
"I can't do this. Please just stop giving me hope when you don't even mean to." Jeff pushed Tyler away and walked away. He cried as he walked to the RV. He locked himself in the RV.
For once, Tyler went back to the cabin and joined his two colleagues. For once, he wished that Jeff would listen to him. Tyler sat next to Rene and noticed that he was blushing. "What happened to you?" He asked innocently.
"Nothing!" Rene pulled himself away from Tyler.
"I think you need to talk to Tyler.." Emily winked, and she went upstairs to her bedroom.
"Huh? What happened?" Tyler still has no idea of what just happened.
"Well.. um.." Rene bites his lips. "I want to get pregnant.."
"Oh.." Tyler connected the dots right away. "Are you sure you don't want to wait for Mr. Right? Can I hold your hand?" As soon as Rene nodded, he grabbed Rene's hand and held it.
"I am 31 now, and I might get killed by a group of homophobic men. I want to do this.." Rene sighed.
"I don't want to have sex with you though. I just have those kinds of boundaries. And it's not because you are not attractive or anything." Tyler plays with Rene's hand.
"No.. of course not.." Rene actually expected Tyler to sleep with him. But he can understand Tyler's reasoning.
"Can I ask for your advice?" Tyler was still rubbing Rene's palm.
"Hm? Sure?" Rene wonders what Tyler will ask him about.
"Do you think I should pursue a relationship with Jeff? I'm just.." Tyler sighed. "I don't know if I can live without him. And this kind of stuff just made me want to quit my job as a lawyer and stay on the farm with Jeff. "
"But, you are a great lawyer.. I would hate to lose you as my boss. But I understand where you are coming from. This thing really gave us a new perspective, huh?" Rene smiled.
"I hope Teddy's followers also get some jail time. They are dangerous. I mean, even if Teddy gets some jail time, it doesn't mean their followers won't hurt us." Tyler shook his head.
"Oh! You will sleep with Jeff, right?" Rene asked.
"Hm? I think so if he let me.." Tyler was not sure that Jeff would not avoid him the whole time they were there.
"I will talk to Jeff then! I'm rooting for you and him!" Rene stood up and walked outside before Tyler could protest. He knocked on the RV and Jeff came out. "I need to talk to you.." Rene said to Jeff. This was only the second time he met Jeff, but Tyler told Rene and Chris so much about Jeff that he felt like he knew Jeff.
"Is it about Tyler? Because, I told him I didn't want to keep expecting him when all he was doing was breaking my heart." Jeff sighed.
"Well, yes.. but I have some ideas to get you and Tyler together forever.." Rene grinned.
"And what's that idea is?" Jeff raised his eyebrows.
"I want to sleep with you tonight, and we can make Tyler really jealous. So then he will finally admit that he wants you!" Rene chuckled. Jeff is a cute guy anyway, so this would be a win for both of them.
"It's cute that you think Tyler will be jealous if I sleep with you. He knew most of my exes." Jeff smiled.
"Oh, bugger!" Rene pouts.
"Hey guys.. I bring food and groceries! A little help here?" So Chris called them, and the conversation ended abruptly.
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"They want to get a gay lawyer to defend you? That's messed up!" Chuck punched the table.
"Well, they tried. I'm firing them and I need to hunt down that gay lawyer and make him hurt so badly!" Teddy clenched his jaws.
"Oh, we'll hurt him badly.." Nox gave an evil smile.
"Hmm.. did you know that one of the partners of that firm is a gay woman?" Reed asked.
"What?!" Teddy can't believe that he found a gay lair.
"Yeah, she's married to one of your number one haters, Casey Shaw." Reed grunts.
"You hit the jackpot.." Chuck laughed. 
Teddy smacked Chuck's head. "Reed, tracked them down. We need to give them a lesson.." He grinned.
"I will let Jax and Toby know where they are as soon as I find them. Do you want me to find out who that Tyler guy's boyfriend is too?" Reed asked.
"Sure.. we have to erase this sinner from the earth. Just make sure you do it clean. I wanted to be seen so we could make ourselves visible and because I am the leader. But you have to be careful. I don't want any of you to get into trouble. Okay?" Teddy looked around the room and everyone was nodding to his instructions.
"We will make you really proud of us, Sir!" Nox made an evil grin. "They will be eradicated from this earth, I promise you.."