Tarzan and James

New horizons. New dangers.

"You never told me how you ended up on that island." He says just loud enough to hear over the hum of the bus.

"I was on a friends boat. I wanted to get away for a while and I got away." He laughs a little.

"Getting away from what?" I bit my lip and force out the words. I never wanted to speak or even think about it but I did have to tell him.

"A wedding."

"Who's wedding did you want to miss that bad?"

"My own." The smile disappears from his face.

"What?" I'm not looking forward to this.

"Well some one asked me to marry them and out of panic and desperation I said yes." He looks angry but very sad.

"Tarz.. Scott. Say something." I stopped because I don't think the nick name would be welcomed right now.

"I don't know. It just feels weird. You're engaged.... to some one else." I take his hand and clasp it. He doesn't grab back.

"There's nothing there. No ring. Most importantly no love." I put his hand on my heart and mine on his.

"Feel this? There is something here. Love. You have mine and I hope to have yours."

"You do." He says looking down.

"I love you and I will sort it out later. All I care about right now is getting you home and safe." He finally looks up at me. "Ok?"

"Ok." It's strange being the comforter but I like knowing I am helping him for probably the first time ever.

We finish the ride on the cramped bus in silence. We get off at a random stop and hope to make something out of what we've got. We walk around until we find our selves lucky enough to have some one who says they can help us.

Honestly this all seems so impossible and I know if I try to explain myself to any of my family they aren't going to believe me.

We end up in a shifty looking basement and I would probably pass out from fear if I hadn't been through that island. We exchange very little words, probably because I'm not fluent in Spanish and it appears Tarzan isn't that great either. Tarzan trades the stolen weapons from the FBI and the guy seems rather content with the deal, he even throws in some clothes for Tarzan.

We have our tickets into our new lives. Fake passports and IDs. My name remains the same. I am still James Lloyd Branco. Tarzan's is not the same. Scott Walsh was still missing. As a final precaution we chose something completely different. Jake Fleming.

"What else should I do?" He says as locks of his hair fall to the floor.

"What else can we do to make you look different... hmmm. You could get a tattoo?"

"That's obvious."

"Not if you get like a tattooed birthmark or something. I'm sure with a proper shower and your new hair you will already look pretty different."

"I just want to be cautious."

"Of course." We've really just begun. We are going to have to go through the border and then stay out of the eye of any sort of law enforcement. We're going to have to hide virtually everything from everyone I wanted to get back to so badly.

"Hey don't look so down. We've come too far and we'll be back to your home. Our home." He's right. We've come this far. We can't give up now. We've done too much."

"You're right."  His hair cut isn't the prettiest thing but it could be worse. He shaves the sides but left it short on the top. Well just clean it up later.

"Even with out hair your still as cute."

"There's always time for flirting with you isn't there?"

"I wouldn't say always. Just with you."

"That might be the cutest thing you've said ever." He's right. I'm not good at these things. In every relationship I've never really been able to be more than awkward. But it's easier with him. Especially now that we're older.

"I've missed you." He says looking down. "A lot."

"I've missed you. I haven't slept good since you've gone. You're very comfortable you know?"  He smiles and laughs a little.

"You've changed. You used to be so quiet. But now you ask questions, talk and probably most surprisingly say no."

"I didn't have you to say no for me. I had to learn to do it myself. I realized I didn't really know anything, I just relied on you." It's true. He used to make all of my decisions and I just went with it. It took me a while to get used to deciding for myself but after that I did become more independent.

"So you don't love him?" I was hoping he wouldn't come back to that.

"No. I was sort of pressured into it. He is going to get deported if I don't marry him. No I have a reason to tell my mom no. He's her friends son."

"Oh so you weren't marrying him for love at all?"

"No. Goodness no. He was cute sure but he was too pushy and just wanted to have sex. He always told me I was too sensitive and never understood why I was upset."

Remembering him is a little sore. Andrew. He wasn't cute. His personality was frightening. He was sweet in-front of people and looked so nice. He was so different when we were alone. So forceful. Almost sadistic when he got in the mood.

"I'm sorry." He says wrapping his hand around my waist and sticking his bottom lip out probably subconsciously but cute nonetheless.

"God I've missed you." He smiles then leans me against him.

"We've got to come up with a cover story on why you're bringing this weird guy home with you."

"Easy. You found me floating and nursed me back to health and now we love each other so much that you cake back with me." He looks at me in disbelief.

"when did you get good at lying?"

"When I had to. Truth is I'm good at thinking of them but still not so much the executing. I'm still going to need your help."

"You have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that." We breathe for a second but I can tell we're both thinking about the same thing. How in the hell are we going to make all of this work while laying low?

"One day at a time branch."

One day at a time.

We make our way back to the street and now it's time for the last leg before the border. We help move some crates to get money for a cab fair so our arrival to the border looks less suspicious. The work serves as a great distraction for the reentrance fears but once we're done it's right back. We hesitantly get into the cab and it feels like he's more terrified than I am.

"Don't be nervous. We have everything in order."

"Yeah It's just a bit nerve racking." He's screaming on the inside but he doesn't want to admit it.

"Don't worry. I'm here and we're fine." He takes a deep breath and it eases us both. We hold hands and stare out the windows. I know neither of us wants to say anything even though we have a million things bouncing around. Watching the scenery move reminds me of being a kid in the back seat while my parents would drive us to all of the fun places we had been.

I remember my mom taking us to the pool once. We were probably in 4th grade and I think it was for my birthday. My mom asked and practically pleaded for me invite more than just Scott but I refused. I only spent that day with my 2 cousins and Scott.

My mom let us swim until my dad got there to sing happy birthday. I remember what we did. We liked to go to the deep end and sit on the bottom and look at each other. We always pretended that we could breathe underwater. A lot of the things we did were really gay. We had no chance of being straight. That was one of my best birthdays. Water, him and cake.

A squeeze to me hand shakes me out of my reminiscing. He looks at me and smiles. I can tell where we are with out even reading the signs. It's the border. I sigh. Here we go.