Braided Lives (19 page)

"Yeah, but it's also the one that left me with the worst backlash," retaliated Danny.

"If we're guessing that sheer numbers of people is a component, there were nearly twenty thousand people there," Peter noted.

"So perhaps we pick a concert with a lower attendance level and make sure that there's more than one of us around to keep an eye on you," said Stephen.

With something approximating a game plan in place, Peter and Stephen headed out of the room. Jennifer remained behind, noting that Danny hadn't moved yet.

His fingers were fiddling with the spoon on his cafeteria tray.

"You don't like the plan," she said.

He gave her lopsided smile. "I'm not sure my liking or disliking it has a whole lot to do with it." Danny held out a hand to her.

Jennifer got out of her seat and went to him. He pulled her down into his lap.

"Does Stephen outrank you?" she asked.

"Yeah… no. It's complicated. Technically he's part of the medical team, so he could declare me unfit for duty on a temporary basis. Not that I think he's very likely to do something like that. As much as I like and respect the guy, his solutions to problems are… well, sometimes not very easy to live with. I guess we';re making progress though."

Danny's head rested against Jen's chest, and she combed her fingers through his hair.

August

"I have exactly three days before my fall semester kicks off," said Jennifer. "And today is my last official day here." Her ten weeks had stretched out a little due to the assignment in Las Vegas. She leaned against the door frame of the infirmary. Peter was parked in front of his desk. He had spun the chair around to face her.

"You're going back to Baltimore," he said. His tone was flat.

"Yes, I have a job. One semester is all I can afford to blow off."

"Are you aware that P will be paying you $5000 for your few days in Vegas?"

"That much?" she asked.

"Yes. You have identifiable skills that are shared by only three others, and even theirs aren't exactly the same." Peter got up and crossed the room to where she stood. He ran a finger down her nose and over her lips.

"And then there's us. Us in the you, me and Danny sense."

"I know," she whispered.

He could feel the tight knot of guilt and longing and uncertainty that wound through her body.

"It's been good, we have chemistry, and we live two hundred and fifty miles apart," said Peter.

"Which is drivable. It takes about five hours. I've known some people to do the bi-coastal thing for a while just to keep relationships together."

"How realistic is that?"

"In this age of texting, cell phones, internet and webcams, why not? Jen, I don't want to give up because it might be difficult," Peter pleaded.

Danny came down the hall toward them. He gave Peter a slightly confused frown.

"We were talking about distance issues," said Peter.

"Yeah, we need a game plan or a schedule of who drives where and when," Danny replied. He walked up behind Jennifer and put his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. "Why do I have the distinct impression you think this is somehow the end?"

"We're going to be apart. Relatively far apart," she said sadly.

"Yeah, and? I have enough freaking frequent flier miles from this job to send you to Bangkok and back for free," Danny said.

"I told her it's less than five hours away. I know a guy in Norfolk who drives home from DC almost every single weekend to be with his family," Peter offered.

"It's not impossible."

"You could move down here," suggested Danny.

"I have a job, a job I actually like reasonably well. I know nothing about the colleges down here."

"What about your artwork? One time you said you wished you had more time to explore it," Danny continued.

"I only make a few thousand dollars a year at that. I can't live on that."

"I am not going to let you slide out of my life." Peter bit back the angry hurt he felt. It seemed like she was generating excuses for their relationship not to work, but the tension in her body belied the idea.

"You have Danny," she blurted out.

Damn it, now he was annoyed. "I want you! I want you
and
Danny. What do I have to do to convince you that you aren't a convenience or just some toy for him and I to share? I love you and I want you in my life.

Sending you a state away is tearing a fucking hole in my heart and having Danny close will only ever fix half the damage!" Peter knew he was losing his temper, and he didn't care.

He watched a tear slide down her cheek. Danny's arms were still around Jennifer. Peter saw Danny turn his head a little and lay his cheek against Jennifer's head.

"I love you, Jen, and I love Peter. Please, if we lose you…" Danny's voice trailed away and he reached toward Peter, pulling them all together. Peter's arms enveloped his two lovers. Jen's face buried against Peter's shoulder, her hand curled around Danny's wrist.

"Love you, both," she whispered.

***

"Um, about two hours," answered Danny.

"Fuck, seems like longer."

Danny's arm curled around Peter's shoulders and Peter slouched into the embrace. "If we call her while she's driving, it'll just distract her. She needs to focus on the road."

"I know. I still feel like I should have stowed away in her trunk," Peter replied.

Danny chuckled. "You and I both have work-related crap to do tomorrow. She is a competent adult, you know, and she was taking care of herself pretty well before either of us entered the picture."

"Do you miss her?"

"Hell, yeah. I keep having this thought that she's just somewhere else in the complex and all I'd have to do is spend five minutes looking for her." Danny kissed Peter on the temple.

***

Suffolk to Baltimore was a tediously long and boring drive. Jennifer had let a friend sublet her house while she was away. Now as she walked through the house, she noticed small things had been moved. It was no big deal. The trade-off for making sure her house was looked after for ten weeks of the summer was worth the minor hassle.

Upstairs in the bedroom, her renter had even obligingly taken all the sheets off the bed and left a stack of clean ones sitting there. It was almost midnight and tomorrow Jennifer had a faculty meeting and a batch of prep to do. Sleep would be a good plan. As she began to make the bed, memories of sleeping with one and often two additional people crowded her thoughts. The thought of sleeping alone tonight so far away from Danny and Peter made her chest ache.

When she finished making the bed, she sat down on the end and gazed at the sheet of glass held onto the wall by a wide wooden frame. There was always a bucket of markers on the floor beside it. She picked up a black one and began to draw. This was not the usual sort of thing she used the glass for. Stark clean lines outlined the shape of faces and shoulders and bodies: Danny and Peter. In the center between them, she left a blank space, a void.

Finished, she tossed the marker back into the bucket, and tried to distract herself by unpacking. The ring of her cell phone broke the quiet, and she smiled at the caller ID listed.

"Hi, Danny."

"Are you home yet?" he asked.

"Yeah. I got back about thirty minutes ago. I'm just trying to unpack and get myself on track for work tomorrow."

"We'll see you in eight days, as long as there aren't any major disasters around here. We'll be up there for Labor Day weekend."

"Traffic's going to be a total bitch, you know," she commented.

"Doesn't matter. If it can't be both of us, one of us will come. Stick with the plan, babe. Every other weekend. I'm trying to figure out the commuter flight thing, too. BWI to Norfolk seems like a no go unless you want to have to fly to Philly or North Carolina first.

The closest we may be able to get is Dulles or Reagan to Norfolk. Like I said, I have an absolute ton of frequent flier miles. We may as well burn some of them and save you some driving."

"If driving gets me to you and Peter…" she said.

"Damn, I miss you already." She stared at the ceiling, hoping for some sort of inspiration against the hollowness she was feeling. "Is Peter there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Peter responded. "You're on the speaker. We miss you, too."

***

End.

If you liked this book you might like: Hell Dogs Squadron, and Seeking the Balance