Chapter 2: Oliver's Proposal

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Opening Credits - Chapter 2
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“We need to talk, Officer Hunk, or ya’ may lose Kyle for good,” says Roxy as she barges into the apartment.

Oliver stands by the open apartment door with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Roxy throws her purse on the sofa and looks over at the kitchen counter where a bottle of wine and several wine glasses sit.

“Great. A little wine always helps with stressful situations. Don’t ya’ think?” Roxy grabs the wine opener, opens the wine and pours some into two glasses.

Oliver continues standing by the open door just watching Roxy pour the wine.

Roxy looks up after pouring the wine. “Why are ya’ standin’ over there with that silly look on your face?” Roxy walks over to Oliver and grabs him by the right elbow. “Lets go have a seat on the sofa and have a nice little chat.” Roxy starts to pull Oliver to the sofa and uses her foot to close the door. She guides Oliver to the sofa, sits him down, heads over to the kitchen counter, grabs the wine glasses and walks back to the sofa handing Oliver one of the glasses. “We’re goin’ to need this wine for this conversation!” She quickly rushes back to the counter to grab the bottle.  “You never know we might need the entire bottle.” She sits the bottle on the coffee table and has a seat on the coffee table in front of Oliver on the sofa. “Okay, Officer Hunk, lets have a talk. What are ya’ doin’ to get that hot med student back?”

Oliver is still in a bit of shock and slowly responds. “Nothing.”

Roxy jumps up from the table and starts frantically pacing in the area between the coffee table and the apartment door. “Wrong. Officer Hunk! Doin’ nothin’ is not an option. Ya’ need to tell Kyle how ya’ feel now at this very moment.”

“Look, Roxy. I’m super tired and the last few days have been….”

Roxy holds her left hand up in a stop fashion. “Stop. No excuses. Do ya’ want Kyle back or not?”

“I’m not sure I can talk to you about this.”

Roxy walks over to Oliver and grabs his cheek with her left hand while holding the wine glass in her right hand. “Listen to me, Trout! I’m a believer in true love. Granted my own love life leaves a bit to be desired at times, but I’m not going to sit around and let Kyle go down the wrong path. Do ya’ hear me?”

“Look, Roxy. I told Kyle the other day at Rodi’s that I still love him and I want to be with him. He basically said it would not work and he had moved on with Nick.”

“Bull.” Roxy removes her hand from Oliver’s face, downs the rest of the wine in her glass and pours herself more wine. She looks back at Oliver.

“You’re not drinking your wine, Mr. Fish.”

“I don’t think I should drink any. Drinking tends to get me in trouble!”

“Its only wine Mr.! Drink up! Now! Drink every last drop.”

Oliver reluctantly drinks the entire glass of wine. Roxy immediately pours him more wine.

“So, hot stuff. I love a man in uniform by the way. Very hot! Are ya’ really going to sit around and let Kyle get away?”

Oliver stands and walks toward the kitchen. “I’m not sure there’s anything I can do. I think it’s too late. I made too many mistakes and Kyle will never be able to forgive me.” Oliver takes another drink of his wine.

“Look man. Love is forgiveness. Yes, we all do stupid things and sometimes our pride gets in the way, but in the end if somethin’ is meant to be, like you and Kyle, the good, the love wins out. You can’t afford to not take some more action right now,” says Roxy as she walks behind the kitchen counter and looks straight into Oliver’s eyes.

“What’s going on, Roxy? Why are you here?”

“Well, lets just say, I heard a certain gay rights activist tell a friend of his that he wants to pop the big question to our adorable med student.”

Oliver immediately feels as if someone has punched him in the stomach. His head starts swimming and he becomes a bit dizzy. Would Kyle accept such a proposal from Nick?  Why was this happening to him now? Is he being punished for all of his denial over the past few months?  As tears form in his eyes Oliver turns back towards the living room so Roxy cannot see him. His heart feels like it is going to break into a million pieces. 

“What an idiot I am, Roxy. Why did I treat Kyle so bad the past few months? Why did I deny my feelings? Now I’ve lost him. I can’t believe this. He’s going to make a commitment to Nick.”

Roxy drinks more wine “Listen, honey. We don’t know what Kyle is going to do, but its not to late.”

“How can you say that? I told you what he said at Rodi’s. We’re done. I need to accept it and move on.”

Roxy walks around to Oliver and notes the tears. She downs the rest of her drink and sits the glass on the counter. “Drink up.”

Oliver downs the rest of his wine. Roxy grabs the glass and places it on the counter. She then faces Oliver again grabbing both of his elbows with her hands. “Listen to me, Oliver. Ya’ can’t give up. I don’t care what Kyle says. You, Mr. Oliver Fish, are the person he wants to be with and this is what you’re goin’ to do about. You’re goin’ to walk back to the hotel with me right now, march up the stairs to Kyle’s room and tell him that you’re not givin’ up. That ya’ will do whatever it takes to make things right and he owes you a chance.”

“Kyle doesn’t owe me anything after the way I’ve treated him.”

“Oliver, stop with the pity party. Kyle will forgive ya’ in time, but if you don’t fight for him, Mr. Nick is going to sweep in for the kill.  Sometimes people want the easy way out. Nick is Kyle’s easy way out. I would never tell Kyle this, but he is important to me. He’s become like a son to me. I’m not goin’ to sit here and let ya’ just give up. You’re going to fight to get your man back. Kyle and I have had our difficulties. Our relationship began on a rather bizarre note. I will not bore ya’ with the details. But we were able to move past the hurt and dislike we initially had with each other. You guys can too. Ya’ just have to put yourself out there.”

“Roxy, please. I don’t think I have the courage to do this. I’m just so exhausted.”

Roxy grabs the bottle of wine and walks it over to Fish. “Finish this bottle. It will take the edge off.”

“I can’t, Roxy.”

“Drink up, Officer! Now!”

Oliver grabs the bottle and drinks the remainder of the wine.

“Grab your keys, Tuna. We’re goin’ to see Kyle. You are goin’ to tell him again how ya’ feel. You are goin’ to continue to do so until Kyle gets the message once and for all.”

Fish looks at Roxy with a please don’t make me do this look.

Roxy grabs Oliver by the arm, grabs her purse from the couch with the other hand and starts walking him towards the door. “I’m not takin’ no for an answer. You’re going to pay Mr. Lewis a visit, tonight.”

 Roxy does not give Oliver a choice and they leave out the apartment door.

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Oliver can’t believe that he is now standing outside Kyle’s room door. He tried to turn around and head home several times on the walk over to the hotel, but Roxy was not going to let him check out. At this very moment she is watching him from down the hall to ensure that he does indeed complete his mission. Oliver’s stomach feels like a pretzel, all twisted, as his nerves continue to get the better of him. If only Roxy would go away. He could then possibly make a run for it, but her determination is so fierce in this matter. After pacing outside the door for what feels like an eternity and realizing Roxy is not going to leave, Oliver finally finds the strength to lift his hand and knocks on the door.

“Just a second,” says Kyle from the other side of the door.

Oliver thinks he might faint. Kyle’s voice is always a major turn on for him. A few seconds later, Kyle opens the door.

“Oliver. Hey. What’s goin’ on?”

“Sorry to bother you, but I need to talk. Is this a bad time?”

Oliver hopes that Kyle will say he is busy. Maybe Nick is even inside or something. 

Then at least he could tell Roxy that he tried. She couldn’t deny him that, but unfortunately Oliver is about to find out that this his hopes of escape will not become reality.

“Not at all. This is a perfect time.  I just finished up some work for class tomorrow and was goin’ to relax a bit before bed. Come on in.”

Oliver glances down the hall one more time to see if he can make an escape, but only sees Roxy with a thumb ups and a big smile.

“Thanks, Kyle” says Oliver as he makes his way into the apartment.

As he enters the apartment he immediately smells Kyle’s scent and grabs onto the desk to maintain his balance.

“So what’s goin’ on, Oliver? Is everything ok?”

Oliver becomes more nervous if that is even possible. “Can we sit and talk?”

Kyle points over to the bed. Oliver walks over and has a seat at the foot of the bed. Kyle follows and sits beside Oliver. The two both look down to the floor without initially looking at each other. A few minutes pass and the tension continues to mount. Kyle and Oliver just sit and occasionally glance over at each other.

Kyle finally speaks up.  “I’m glad ya’ stopped by Oliver. There’s somethin’ I need to discuss with ya’. I’m not sure how to say it.”

Oliver knows what is coming before Kyle even says any words. He’s going to tell him about Nick’s proposal. Oliver hopes Kyle will say that he did not accept the proposal, but his gut tells him this will not be the case. Even though Oliver knows what is coming, as soon as Kyle say the words it feels like a ton of bricks is falling on him.

“Nick, asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

Oliver immediately feels tears well up in his eyes. To keep Kyle from seeing he jumps off the bed and looks away.

“So its true then?” asks Oliver as he continues to fight back the tears.

Kyle looks up and over at Oliver, “Ya’ already know? How?”

Oliver is barely able to stop the tears, “Its not important how, Kyle.” Oliver buries his face into his hands. “I can’t believe this.”

Kyle immediately senses Oliver’s pain, stands up and walks over to him placing his hand on Oliver’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, buddy. Turn around and look at me.”

Oliver turns around to face Kyle and the tears start to flow more readily. Kyle immediately looks away as tears well up in his eyes also. Without saying anything else Kyle pulls Oliver into his arms. For the next few minutes they continue to embrace, pulling their bodies closer to each other while the tears continue to flow.

For the first time in months or years for that matter Oliver feels relaxed and safe. For these few minutes Oliver feels like everything might just be okay.

Kyle’s emotions during these few minutes are over the place. He is excited and happy to have his Oliver so close again, but the associated pain continues to nudge at him. Maybe Oliver is here to tell him he’s ready to changer? Maybe he’s ready to be together? Kyle tries to stop the million hopeful questions swirling through his head. He reminds himself, this is Oliver Fish.

Kyle continues to embrace Oliver, but loosens the embrace to look into Fish’s eyes. “I’m so….”

Oliver holds his finger up to Kyle’s lips. “Shhhh….”

Oliver then places both hands around Kyle’s neck and brings him into a kiss. Kyle does not fight this and succumbs to the kiss. The two have the most intense lip lock ever, both tongue’s probing the others mouth. As they continue to kiss it is as if they are the only two people on earth. Not anything or anyone could break them apart. This feels so natural, so right. And then….

Kyle remembers some of the hurtful things Fish said to him.

You disgust me.

It was just a phase.

You need to move on.

Kyle pulls away. “Oliver, I can’t do this.”  Kyle looks away facing the door.

Suddenly Oliver finds a newfound confidence.  He grabs Kyle by the shoulder and turns him around. He places his hands on his neck again.

“Oliver, I can’t. Please”

Oliver looks directly into Kyle’s eyes. Kyle tries to look away, but is mesmerized by his Oliver.

 “Listen to me, Kyle. I need you. You’re the love of my life. I’ve made some big mistakes and I know that I have a lot to make up for. I need you to give me a chance. You were right in that alley a few months ago. We did mean something to each other. I’ve been a damn fool over the past several years. Letting everyone live life for me, instead of being true to myself. I’m done with that now. I want to show you that I can be the man you want me to be. Can you give me that chance? Please don’t push me away.”

“Oliver, it’s not that simple.”

“It can be, Kyle. Just let me in long enough to show you that I’m not the same guy who treated you so badly. My heart is breaking. It has been for years. I’m tired of the pain and heartache. The pretending is over. Let me show you. Please Kyle, don’t give up on us. I know we still love each other. I felt it in that kiss. I want more of that and I know on some level you do to.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want, Oliver. I’m with Nick now. I’m marryin’ him.”

Oliver briefly loses his confidence. How can he get through to Kyle?  But his determination becomes even fiercer and he is not going to give up.

“It’s not too late. Listen to your heart. Listen to what it’s telling you. Don’t let my stupidity and my lack of confidence cost us anymore time. All I ask is that you think about what I said tonight. I’m going to tell you everyday how I feel. I’m not going to let you forgot that I love you. All I can think about with each passing minute is you. I’m not going to give up without a fight. Do you hear me, Kyle Lewis?”

Kyle can’t help but to smile at Oliver’s newfound confidence.

“Why are you smiling?”

“You’re so cute when you are confident about something.”

Olive smiles back. “One more thing.”

“What?”

“I want you to remember one more thing.”

Oliver pulls Kyle into another deep passionate kiss. Kyle does not resist. The two get lost in each other again. After a few minutes Oliver breaks away and heads towards the door.

As Oliver opens the door he looks back at Kyle, “Think about what I said, Kyle. All I’m asking is for a chance to prove myself to you. I’m not talking marriage tomorrow or the next day. We do need to get to know one another again. As you yourself said a few weeks back we have both changed a lot. I think we owe it to ourselves to find out if love is enough. I know you love me, Kyle. As I said earlier I will remind you everyday about how I feel. If you decide to go ahead and marry Nick then I know where you stand, but at least I can say I gave it my all. For once in my life I’m going to go after what I want. You!”

Oliver walks out of the room closing the door behind him.

Kyle walks over to the door. He leans his back against the door and slides to the floor. He closes his eyes and lets out a big sigh.

“Oh, Oliver, I do love you. I never stopped.”

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To be continued...................
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