Colors

Six Years Later

Blue

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Blue saw it was after seven already. He could not believe how quickly the days seemed to pass when he was focused on testing in the lab. He pushed the laptop back and stretched his arms, ready to call it day. He was the only one left, the rest of the room nearly dark with the overhead lights turned off, along with most desk lamps. He pulled his satchel from underneath his desk and headed toward the door, hanging his lab coat up on the way out.

Strolling across the parking lot, his old Jeep Cherokee the only vehicle in this section, he smiled at the familiarity of it, one that got him through five years of college and the last year of his work for this laboratory testing whatever their clients required of them. He was currently testing plant specimens to see how they absorbed different fertilizers: synthetic and organics. Climbing into the driver’s seat, he noted how the tape on the edge of it was coming loose. Everyone kept telling him to trade for something new, or at least mildly used. But he didn’t want to trade. He had been checking around to see what it would take to refurbish the Cherokee, bring it back to an almost like new status. The price quotes flabbergasted him, and he saw why people traded, giving up cherished vehicles.

On the drive home, he stopped at the deli on the corner of Sharon and Central, and ran into the drug store next door for a few items. When he got home, inside his small apartment, he turned on the light over the bar and sat in the silence while eating his dinner. It was a silence he had once craved as a child, more so when a teenager. But now it permeated the room too much, spoke of his being alone. He had been this way for far too long but didn’t know how to break out of it. When Grey had graduated at the end of Spring Semester of their senior year, it felt like he lost a part of himself. If not for Red still being there, having to go one more semester, it would have been unbearable. Red and he spent that summer together down in Panama City, taking odd jobs and hanging out at the beach or going north up to the Florida Caverns or east to one of the state parks along the coast.

But come the end of Fall Semester of that next year and Red was gone; graduated and moved to Atlanta working for some real estate company. And he was left alone. His last semester had been tough, with all the papers and research he had to do, so it passed quickly, with long hard days, and when he graduated, he didn’t slow down. He was unable, for to do otherwise would leave him feeling more alone.

The bag and wrap tossed in the garbage; he saw it was full. He pulled the plastic bag, tied it off and put another in the can. Then he headed to the dumpster to toss it. On the way back, he would check his mail. His birthday was coming up, just two days away, and his mother had told him to watch the mail for his card. He knew there would be a check in it, his gift from parents who didn’t know what to buy for their son now that he was on his own.

Susan from 12-14 was at the mailboxes and he waited on her to sort the junk mail from her bills, tossing the former in the trashcan. When she turned to leave, he saw here start, having not heard him approach.

“Hey…Blue, how are you?”

“Good, and you?”

“The same...Blue, what are you doing on Saturday night? I thought…well, you see some of us are going to see this band and I thought you’d like to come.”

“Thanks Susan, but…I have plans already.”

“Oh…maybe next time?”

“Next time” Blue repeated, putting her off again. He knew he should be nicer to her, maybe even go out with them one night, but there was the nagging sense she wanted more from him. She had hinted at her willingness to go out with him, something he was not interested but didn’t know how to tell her, so he just begged off each time.

As Susan walked away, he opened his box and slipped the mail out. Fliers for two of the grocery stores nearby, coupons, junk mail for internet service and another credit card and mixed in with it his car insurance bill and four cards. Tempted to open them at the mailbox, instead he rushed back to his apartment, tossing the junk mail in his recycle bin and fell back on the sofa. He turned on the lamp and looked at the one on top. It was from his parents and as suspected, it was a card speaking to how proud of him they were and loved him very much, and within it, a check for fifty dollars.

The next card made his hands shake, the return address Austin, Texas. He recognized it immediately by the neat writing and the familiar address that belonged to Grey. Inside was a card Grey made, the outside a sketch of Red and Grey sitting in the dorm room and he knew the photo from which it was taken. Inside, another sketch, this one of him sitting at his desk looking into the old microscope that now resided in his closet. He didn’t recognize the sketch; one Grey must have done while sitting on his bed. The angle was right. In a neat script that spoke of the artist who wrote it, was the greeting below:

Happy Birthday, Blue. I wish you the best and hope you are finding happiness in life. Grey.

Blue’s hands shook as he slipped the card back in the envelop, then picked up the next one. It was from his paternal grandparents, who lived in Winter Haven, Florida. It was typical of their cards and it made him smile at the silliness of it. The birthday cake sitting beneath palm trees and pink flamingoes strutting past in the background. Inside was a twenty, which he laid on the side table, then read the greeting and short note below telling him of their latest adventure, this time to the Everglades.

The last card, one that was bright orange, garish among the pale blue and white of the others. It was no surprise to find Red’s crude cursive writing on it, the return address in Atlanta. The card was one meant to be humorous, one to make him smile, laugh even, but tears trickled down his cheeks as the read the note inside.

Happy Birthday. I hope you are well. I miss you. I miss the three of us and what we had together. Call me when get this. Red.

Red

It was after nine o’clock when Red finally entered his apartment. His satchel slung over one shoulder, the pizza he picked up in his left hand and the mail in this right, he fumbled his way into his apartment. He was starkly aware of the irony of him selling ridiculously large and overly priced homes to young families while he himself lived in a small one-bedroom apartment. Yes, it faced downtown, and had a great view being on the fifteenth floor, but it was still an apartment, one that cost nearly what some of his clients would be paying monthly for a home. He had considered it. He had seen plenty of properties with a nice home on it. Some new, on the outskirts of the city and some older homes in sections of the city being revitalized. Places the poor were being forced out by the rise in rents or property taxes.

It made him think of the conservations between Grey and Blue. The debates on how to deal with poverty, and he listened, trying to figure out what their real differences were, the two of them sounding so alike in their positions. Leaning back, feeling totally exhausted, he considered taking a bath and going straight to bed.

His cell phone rang, and he grimaced, thinking it could a client worrying about a closing, or his boss pushing him to take on more work, push a little harder, their goals for the month not yet met. The latter pissed him off more than anything, for the goals constantly increased. One really good month, one out of the ordinary and suddenly it was deemed the standard for which the next month’s goals were set. It was never enough. Picking it up, he saw Blue’s name on the screen.

“Hey…how are you?!”

“I’m good. And you?”

“Good…good. I know it is still a couple of days away, but Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.”

“So, you got big plans?”

A scoff loud enough to hear through the phone, “no, no big plans.”

“I know you. You’ve submerged yourself into that lab and…”

“What? No, it’s not like that.”

“Blue,” Red responds, then falling silent for a long time before continuing. “Have you ever wondered how things would be if we had stayed together? All three of us?”

“Sometimes,” Blue confesses, “but that would be weird.”

“Would it?  Have you spoken to Grey recently?”

“No, not for a couple of weeks…or three. I’m planning on calling him Saturday.”

“You know, he seems to be out of it too.”

“What about you?”

“My boss is constantly looking for more sales and pushes us to work ridiculous hours. Don’t get me wrong the money is good, but…” Red stammers, stops talking, unsure how to continue.

“But you feel like life is just passing you by?”

“Yes.”

“We should plan on getting together soon. Maybe take a vacation, just the three of us.”

“That would be nice.”

“I need to go. It’s getting late and…”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Red?”

“Yes.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

Red watched his phone clear when Blue ended their call and he sat still, not moving, staring out over the city, with an old longing he dared not dwell on.

Grey

Sitting at a small two-top table in front of the coffee shop, Grey watched the people around him, fascinated by their normality. This daily routine so many had created. Walking their dogs, taking their kids to the park, meeting friends for coffee, or having that first date, with its awkward moments. He wondered how it felt, what it would be like to feel normal. He didn’t feel normal, never had. But there was a time he felt contented. Where each day was one to look forward no matter what dreary task it had entailed. He couldn’t believe it had been two years since graduation. Two years since he last saw Blue and Red. Yes, they communicated frequently. Posts on social media, text messages sometimes with a photograph, plus the occasional card. Birthdays, Christmas and especially Halloween, their favorite holiday.

Glancing at his watch, he saw it was after one, and he had killed enough of the day. He wanted to get to his studio, the small space rented within a warehouse. There were twenty of them in the space, each paying a prorated share. It was a struggle with his teaching salary, but he had few other bills, and spent very little on the kind of things other people would do. Eating out frequently, going to movies or bars, or dating someone, spending money and time on them to prove something. He felt like he had nothing to prove. But there was that knot in the pit of this stomach, one that would not go away.

Empty cup and saucer in the dirty dish bin by the door, he ambled down the sidewalk to his car. It was a Honda, just like the one he had in college, only this one was a little newer, less wear and tear on it. It didn’t have stains on the backseat where Red got sick once, and no amount of toxic cleaners would remove. It didn’t have a tear in the passenger seat where Blue had accidently cut it with an Xacto blade. The headliner wasn’t loose, nor the right front brake squealing for some reason a mechanic couldn’t figure out. Instead it was reliable and nice looking, and he felt it an appliance when the other car seemed a part of him. An integral part of who he was during college.

He drove across town to the old warehouse district that had not gone through a gentrification, something bound to happen sooner or later. He knew when it did, they would be pushed out of the warehouse. Where they would go next, was anyone’s guess. As he pulled into the parking lot, his cell phone rang out, with the tune of Sister Ray. It still amused him to think of the day Blue finally listened to the lyrics.

“This is a pleasant surprise. I was just thinking about you.”

“You always say that.”

“It’s true.”

“How are you?”

“I’m good. Just pulled up to the studio to do some sketches. I’ve got this whole new idea I’m exploring.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“Blue; Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.”

“That doesn’t sound like a jovial tone for someone having a birthday.”

Blue fakes a laugh, then falls silent.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just…I miss you guys. You know?”

“Do you?”

“Yes, more than you know.”

“Grey? I hate my life…I’m just going through the routine of it.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“I’m not saying anything. Just bitching a bit because I’m feeling lonely.”

“You should fly down sometime. Just pack a suitcase and come for a visit.”

“Maybe pack it full of test tubes?”

Grey laughed, the image of Blue on that first day of Freshman year, bent over a box with broken test tubes in it.

“Grey, I need to go. I’ll call again soon.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Unlocking the metal door and easing into the building, Grey considered the things Blue had said. He heard the tone and knew Blue was serious. And it bothered him even more how he felt the same. He heard Jason using a blow torch and down the corridor heading to his space, he saw Lily at her easel, working a fine brush on the canvas. He didn’t speak to her, knowing she would wander down later, and headed on to his studio at the end of the corridor. He was working on a series of drawings, groupings of three from nature and the built environment. The arrangements they could have, the shapes they created. He had dwelt on it for a long time and two months ago, he tore the sheet off his easel he had been working on, some still life that had no life. He had wadded it up, tossed it across the room, and began on this new inspiration. He had seen a particular plant with clusters of three leaves and he began to recreate them.

A Drastic Step

The closing of the Meadow Lane property finally completed, Red excused himself, and headed out. He got back to the office in time to meet with a client who was closing the next week. They were in a panic for the bank kept asking for documentation, and it seemed like the bank was seeking a way to back out.

“They’re like this for everyone. They will drive you crazy if you let it get to you. You just need to give them the documents and this time next week you will close, and the house will be yours,” he assured them.

After thanking him for his time they left, and he headed to his office upstairs. The owner sat in a large office at the base of the stair and called for him just as he started to ascend them.

“Close the door,” Mr. Henderson gruffly stated as Red came into his office.

Red eased down in a chair and tried to get comfortable. “What’s up?”

“I’m going through this month’s numbers and you are behind. You’re not meeting your goal.”

“What? That’s because last month was unusually high. I had five closings that were postponed from the month before plus all the new closings. It was far more than typical, and you can’t honestly expect me to exceed that…”

“That is the expectation. You need to increase sales.”

“But not every month when one…”

“Red, stop making excuses. We’re here to make money and if you can’t meet your goals, then…” Mr. Henderson replied, letting the threat hang in the air.

“Anything else?” Red responded after a few seconds of silence, for he was tempted to say something else and knew it best not to.

“You’ve got two weeks to get your numbers up.”

Red left the office and went upstairs fuming. He had only been with the company for a year but already he exceeded all those who had been there for three or four years and was fast gaining on the top sellers. He wondered if that was the problem. Some of them didn’t like the competition. Then he wondered if it was just Mr. Henderson was an asshole, something that he figured out after two months with the company.

At his desk he pulled up emails, not caring about a one of them. He looked at his phone, the red light letting him know he had voicemails, and he knew his cell phone had several in it too. It never ended. He gave up Saturdays and Sundays to show houses. He gave up evenings during the week. He worked seventy to eighty hours a week and so far, all it had gotten him was a reprimand. Even last month, when his numbers were ridiculous, the second highest in the company, Mr. Henderson had only said ‘I expect you to keep it up.’ He thought it was meant as a general compliment of doing a good job, not a hard sales goal.

“Fuck him,” Red uttered in a low voice as he pulled up a blank letter and began to type. Mr. Henderson left everyday at five o’clock, always with some important function to attend, some event where being seen was the main reason for most attending. Today, at 4:55, he would have a resignation to read before leaving. He would give them their two weeks and then he was gone. He had been unhappy for a while and it was time to remedy this problem.

Blue woke late on Saturday morning, the first time in a long time. He showered, slipped on a shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, and headed out. On Piedmont Avenue he went into Katherine’s, the small restaurant that served a late breakfast on weekends. He sat on the sidewalk to enjoy the sunny day, where he enjoyed two eggs, over easy, grits, bacon and biscuit. The biscuits were the main draw of Katherine’s, and he had his buttered and smothered in honey.

After breakfast, he drove to the grocery store, meandering down one aisle after the next, till his cart was half full. During the week, he carried a lunch to the lab, and at night, if not too late, he loved to cook. On Sunday’s he prepared his most elaborate meal and used the leftovers for lunch for the next couple of days. Back home, he climbed the steps up to the door of his apartment building, then rode the elevator up to his floor. As soon as he stepped out, looking down the corridor, he saw him. It would have been over a year since he had last seen him, but he knew it was Red by the flaming red hair and the silhouette of a body he knew he would never forget.

“Red, what are you doing here?” Blue asked as he approached.

“I’ve come to hang out with one of my best friends.”

The tone of the response was wrong. Blue sensed there was more.

“What happened?”

“I quit that awful job and…and…I don’t know,” Red replied, laughing.

“And you came here?”

“Yes. I wanted to see you. It’s been far too long.”

“Come in,” Blue replied as he fumbled with his keys, eventually getting the door open, and pushing his way in with bags in each hand. Red followed him into the apartment, eyes circling around the barren room. There were photographs on one wall and over the sofa a poster for some large mechanical thing that he was sure relating to CERN, the place Blue went last winter on vacation.

“I’ve got a few more bags in my car to bring up,” said Blue.

“I’ll help.”

“No need, there is only three left. Make yourself at home.”

‘At home’ Blue repeated to himself, almost laughing out loud at the how it had never really felt like home.

Red looked at the familiar photos on the wall, stuck his head in the door to Blue’s bedroom seeing the queen bed with its simple white blanket, all neatly made. There were nightstands each side, simple wood furnishings containing one drawer and an open shelf below, with the one visible containing books. Over the bed another poster, this one for the reboot for the movie Dune. Everything about the room spoke of Blue, this introverted scientific mind, one that didn’t operate like most other people. It still intrigued him.

The front door swung open and Red turned to see Blue coming in with three more bags.

“That’s all of them?”

“Yes,” Blue replied. Red stood at the counter and watched him put everything away.

“Hey, you want to go out for dinner? My treat.”

Blue looked up, nodding his head, “sure, that would be good.”

Sitting at a small table in the middle of the restaurant, Red told of quitting his job, the frustration of never pleasing a boss who only wanted more and more money. Eventually they talked about the small things going on with each of them, things not worth a text message or some post online.

“I’m thinking I’ll look for a job here,” Red blurted out, after a moment’s silence. They had been talking about Blue not dating, passing up opportunities he admitted he should have considered, when Red tossed out the comment.

“Really?”

“Yeah…I was thinking it’d be a nice change of pace. This is a smaller city and…the university is a big part of it and, to be honest, I thought it would be nice to be near you.”

It brought Blue up short, this confession, and he blushed, looking away. “It would be nice to have you around,” he replied, his voice so low Red could barely hear him.

Back at Blue’s apartment, Red followed him into the living room. “…are you sure it is okay for me to crash here. I can get a hotel room…”

“Red! It’s okay. I want you to stay here,” Blue replied, heading to his bedroom, “I’ll get some blankets and a pillow for the sofa.” He returned to the living room, arms loaded, and stood by the sofa. Red stood to one side waiting to help to spread a sheet over the cushions. Blue turned and headed back to his bedroom, blankets and pillow still in hand.

“Blue?” Red uttered as he followed. He watched Blue enter his closet and put everything back on the shelves wondering if he was going to need to get a hotel room after all.

“Will you sleep with me?” Blue asked when he came out.

Red saw the old Blue, the one from college for the first time. “Yes,” he replied, wondering how far it would go.

They went through the rituals of preparing for bed. Brushing teeth, washing faces, and Blue circling his apartment once to make sure the door was locked and switching off all the lights. On opposite sides of the bed, they furtively watched each other undress, stripping down to boxers. Blue laid his clothes neatly on the dresser, each garment folded. Red tossed his over the chair sitting in the corner of the room and before climbing in bed, they looked at what the other had done and laughed. Old habits far too familiar for both. In bed, the covers pulled up to their chest, they lay side by side on their backs. They laid there. Silent. Wondering what the other was thinking.

“Red?” Blue whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you.”

Red wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, if he was going too far, but he rolled to his side facing the dark silhouette next to him. He reached out and touched Blue’s bare chest, felt the warm skin, and once he held his hand still, felt the beating of Blue’s racing heart.

“Is this okay?” Blue whispered.

Red’s hand took his wrist and instead of pushing him away, held tight. “Yes.”

Blue moved between Red’s legs and slowly entered him. He eased his cock into him, feeling the tight opening squeeze the head of his cock, then each inch of the shaft as he sank into the depths of Red’s hole. Once all the way in, he moved over him, and felt legs wrap around his waist. He moved gently, letting Red feel him, every inch, as he pushed and tugged through the tight opening.

Red hugged him, clung to him with desperate need, a longing that had been unfulfilled for far too long. “Oh…Blue…” he uttered as he dug his fingers in the firm flesh. “Fuck me…please…harder…” he rambled as he closed his eyes and focused every sense on Blue.

Blue moved faster, thrust with greater force, as he piston cock within Red’s hole. Lifting up on his hands, he increased his pace, drove with his hips harder. The bed began to squeak and Red grabbed his wrists and clung to him. He fucked till he felt like he was burning up. His muscles ached with his exertion and sweat trickled down his face and body. And Red lay beneath him, begging him to fuck harder.

Blue pulled free, and guided Red to roll over. He pushed thighs together and entered Red again, pushing inward all the way, roughly, using all his strength. He pushed till his hips smacked against ass and he moved down on Red’s back, bear hugged him around the neck and began to fuck.

“Fuck me…fuck me, Blue….fuck….me…” Red pleaded as Blue grew more physical, raising his hips till nearly slipping free, then slamming back in, all the way, smacking against ass. The bed squeaked and rocked beneath them, the sound of it in rhythm with their fuck.

Blue had not realized how much he missed Red, this intimacy that had existing between them. It pushed him, made him fuck with an abandon he had not felt since their last days of college. It pushed his arousal to the edge. His entire body was reacting to this fuck. Every muscle ached. Every inch of skin felt on fire. He pulled Red’s head up and kissed the area below the ear, then tongued its curvature as cum surged through his cock, that first painful ejaculation about to happen. He bit the earlobe and tugged on it, making Red cry out as he pumped cum into his depths.

Blue rolled to his back and Red was on him, sitting on his chest. “Suck me,” Red pleaded. He knew it was the thing Red enjoyed the most. The feel of a mouth on his cock. The slick heat of it. The manipulation by tongue and the drag of lips along the shaft. And he did it, everything he knew would make Red shudder with the stimulation. Those manipulations that would make him cry out. He toyed with Red till a hand grabbed him by the hair, working his mouth on that hard cock, the one framed in flaming red hair. He relaxed to Red’s man handling him. He wanted to pleasure him, and he liked the way Red used him, the physical nature of it. He felt the cock swell thicker, fill his mouth and knew Red was close.

Red shuddered, cried out, guttural, almost pained in its sound, as he filled Blue’s mouth with cum.

They lay side by side, breathing heavily. It had been almost like old times, but both knew there was something missing, just as it had in that last summer and Fall Semester of college before Red graduated. They thought of it, the way the summer had been meant as a salve to ooze the pain of Grey’s leaving. How it had been good at first, but there had been those quiet moments when they both knew it was not the same.

Their last semester together had been worse. Red growing distant with graduation looming, and not knowing how to talk to Blue about it. Grey was gone and it seemed fate was leading him to do the same. They had argued about the most asinine things, trivial bullshit that meant nothing. Even now, neither could remember what most were about, only the way it made them feel.

“It’s not the same. Not like when there was the three of us,” Red uttered and he rolled over facing away from Blue.

Blue looked at Red’s back and knew he was right. It wasn’t the same. “No, its not,” he whispered and rolled to face the other way.

The next morning, sitting at a little coffee shop that served croissants and muffins, they avoided the subject for a long time. But Red could not stand it. It wasn’t in his nature to do so.

“Let’s go to Austin,” said Red causing Blue to grow wide-eyed, not knowing how to respond. “Come on, this is crazy.”

“This is crazy. But Red, most people find another person, one other person, and make themselves a happy life together. They buy homes and…”

“Cut the crap, Blue. We’re not most people, and you know it.”

“But…we can’t just show up at Grey’s.”

“Why not? I did it to you,” Red replied, leaning forward. “Go to work and ask for a week of vacation, and don’t tell me you don’t have it, for I know you’ve probably not taken any since starting.”

Blue smiled, for Red was right, he had all his vacation. “Seriously. We’re just going to fly down to Austin and…what?”

“Play it by ear. See how things go.”

“What? No, we need a plan. We can’t go in blind, we should…”

“Blue, stop. This isn’t an experiment that requires precise measurements and sequencing. This is about life. What makes us human, and Blue, no matter how hard you may try make it otherwise, you know we are not rational creatures. That what works for one, may not work for another.”

“I know, but to just show up, and expecting Grey to do what?”

“I would hope he would want us to be together again, like in college.”

“But that means one of us has to move.”

“Yes.”

The plane landed at the airport and taxied to its gate. The passengers slowly disembarked, satchels and backpacks slung over shoulders and rolling suitcases pulled along behind them. Blue came off the plane with Red right behind him. They snaked their way through the others, their paces faster than most. Along the main corridor, Red fell in beside Blue, as they made their way to the rental car desk.

“Blue, relax. You’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry, but I can’t help it.”

With thirty minutes, Blue behind the wheel, they pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Grey’s house. Red pulled up directions on his cell phone and guided Blue across town, into a neighborhood that was mostly small office parks, apartment complexes and the businesses that supported them facing the main road. It was Saturday afternoon, and they knew Grey should be home, unless he was at the studio or out doing some shopping. They easily found the complex but rode around the drives within trying to find the right building.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Blue asked, pointing to their right.

“No, I think it is that one,” Red replied pointing to their left.

“Oh, I think you’re right.”

Red led Blue up to the building, where they climbed the stair to the third floor and stood in front of the door labeled 120-36. It was Grey’s apartment and Red looked at Blue, nodding his head, then held up his fist to knock.

The door swung inward before Red’s fist made contact.

“Oh,” Red exclaimed.

“OH,” Grey exclaimed, then froze, shocked to see them at his door. “Red! Blue! Jesus, what are you doing here?”

“We came to see you,” Red replied. “Was you heading out?”

“Yes; just to the studio. Come in…come in guys.”

Grey sat in his favorite chair staring out the sliding glass doors at the sky visible over the apartment building next door. Blue and Red sat on the sofa and they were quiet, unsure how to continue with what they wanted to say. They were at the point where they needed to be honest, but it would be the point when they had to put their feelings out there and lay bare their desires. Grey would either accept them or reject them, and the latter seemed to be a possibility. A reality neither wanted to occur.

“You want us to get back together…all three of us?” Grey uttered, his voice so low as to be barely heard, even in the silence of the room.

“Yes,” Red replied trying to exude a confidence he was struggling to possess.

“I see,” said Grey, and he stood, walked to the sliding doors where he looked out at squirrels chasing each other up a tree, then down below, his neighbor, Angela, unloading bags of groceries.

“It just hasn’t been the same since we graduated. Don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel life is missing something?” said Red, looking at Blue for confirmation. He motioned with is head for Blue to say something. Blue looked scared, for he was always the one who had the most difficulty in expressing his most intimate feelings. He swallowed and looked over at Grey, the tall silhouette against the bright window. With the dark hair still cut short, and the black t-shirt and worn jeans and black boots, all attire that seemed to be a uniform for Grey. And it was a look he knew intimately. He remembered times Grey had him dress in a black t-shirt, once when they had gone to Atlanta to some nightclub playing music that appealed to the goth, the punks, and the fetish crowds. Music that found himself getting lost into when he had danced between Red and Grey. Just the three of them.

“Grey…Red is right. I’ve felt it too. The past year seems like I was just going through the motions. I’ve got the job at the lab and it keeps me busy, but that is just it. It keeps me busy while I feel like everything else is on hold. I’ve been…” Blue hesitated to finish, and Grey turned from the window, with dark eyes that seemed to look within him, not at him. “I’ve been lonely ever since you graduated, then Red graduated, leaving me behind.” He said it, that thing that had be gnawing at him for a year. The feeling he got left behind.  

“But Blue, we never…” said Grey.

Blue interrupted him, “I know. We never discussed the possibility of what we had in college could be continued after we graduated. We…I thought we were to be normal. Do what everyone else would do. What they would expect us to do as well. Three people together wasn’t right. Jealously eventually tore many apart. One always seemed to be the third wheel. But…” Blue stammered, unsure what else to say. He looked at Red, then to Grey, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was the one who held it in too long. The one who tried not to show his emotions, a weakness he considered it after hearing what others said about boys were not supposed to cry. But once he started, it was hard for him to stop. He wiped his eyes with his hand and leaned back, for he said all he could.

“Grey, what do you think?” asked Red, breaking the silence. He could never endure a silence for too long.

“What do I think?” said Grey, moving back to his chair. “I think the last two years have been unhappy ones. I try to get out, go to bars, hit on guys online, and go to charity events or gallery openings and…it never was enough. I love teaching, more than I ever expected. It is inspiring to me, gives me courage in my own studio. But I still struggle for its as Blue said. It’s like my life is on hold, waiting on something.”

“Can we talk about this? Seriously discuss what this could mean for us?” asked Red, looking from Grey to Blue.

“Yes,” Grey replied, and Blue nodded his head in agreement.

They went to dinner together, a small place in downtown that was full of students and local residents. It was noisy, crowded and just what the boys wanted. This integration into an environment that was alive. A place that reflected how they felt. They joked with each other and talked animatedly about what they were planning. Red by far the worse, talking almost non-stop as he once did back in college. A woman stepped up to their table, asking Grey if she could buy him a drink and he had apologized, telling her he was in a relationship, making her back off as Red, then Blue laughed at her discomfort.

They went by Grey’s studio and watched as the dark squares around the perimeter came to life as lights were turned on. The drawings and paintings of a hand familiar to Red and Blue. Blue walked by one canvas, a large horizontal piece of three hound dogs racing across an open field and he longed to touch it, to feel fur beneath his fingertips.

In the middle of the room was a large table with its wood top covered in paint and black ink. There were brushes in cups, canisters and tubes of paint, pencils, and scrapers with wood handles and different shaped spatulas. Grey moved up next to Red as Blue stood on the other side of the table. They knew, all three of them, that this was where Grey wanted their first time to be since he had graduated and left. He wanted them to be in his most intimate space, the place he bared his soul, putting a piece of himself in each work. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it carelessly on the floor. With Blue watching, he unlaced his boots and struggled remove them. Red went to his knees and took his right foot.

“Let me,” Red whispered.

The boots were slipped off, socks too, and Red eased up on his knees and held Grey by the waist and he buried his face in the front of the jeans. He exhaled hot breath into the fabric as a hand came to his head, fingers combing through hair. He didn’t see Blue move up behind Grey, but he felt his presence, the way the air moved, seem to fill with the three of them, till there was no room for anyone else.

Red worked Grey’s jeans open and kissed the exposed flesh as hands roamed over chest and stomach above him. Blue was pressed to Grey’s back and it was like their first time for the three of them. Blue and him submitting to Grey, doing what they needed to bring Grey pleasure. He pulled down on the jeans and boxers and felt Grey’s erection hit him on the side of the face. He helped get the jeans and boxers off, tossing them to the side. Rising on knees he let Grey’s cock slip through his lips. He sucked Grey, took every inch, letting it slide over his tongue and push to the back of his throat. He worked Grey till nuts were drawn up tight and cock filled his mouth. He felt the rock-hard nature of it as he moved back and forth along its length.

Grey pulled back leaving Red gasping for breath. “Not yet,” Grey uttered as he reached down and helped Red to stand. Blue moved around to Red’s back and together with Grey, pulled Red’s clothes off till he too was naked. Blue kissed Red, passionately, then turned to Grey, kissing him. “Fuck him,” Blue whispered to Grey, then turned to Red guiding him up on the table.

As Grey worked Red open, loosened his opening, Blue moved around the table, shedding clothes as he went. Stripped naked, his own cock half hard, Blue moved up on the table straddling Red’s head and fed him his cock. He rocked his hips back and forth, working his hardening cock through Red’s lips as he watched Grey penetrate him. He watched Grey push inward, sinking inch after inch into Red till hips pressed against ass.

Red moaned around Blue’s cock as his own cock drooled onto his stomach. Blue leaned over and pumped his hips, feeding Red cock, while licking up the clear liquid. He dragged his tongue through it till it was gone, then watched Grey’s cock piston through Red’s tight opening while he sucked his cock.

They moved together, in rhythm, pleasuring the other. It was as before, the three as one, locked together. Red moaned and undulated beneath Blue. Grey drove into Red’s body, deeply, his hips bumping against ass with every thrust. Red came first, too aroused by all the sensations, this lust driven by desire. He shuddered and jerked upward as he filled Blue’s mouth.

Blue came next, driven by the taste of Red, the way it filled his mouth and lay thickly on his tongue just before he swallowed. He couldn’t hold back, rose up and cried out as he pushed into Red’s mouth and filled it with his cum. Grey leaned forward and kissed Blue, tasted the remnants of Red on his lips, caught the odor of cum that hung in the air and he stood up tall, and hammered cock into Red’s depths. Hips smacked against ass till he too cried out with the pleasure of his release.

They moved languidly around the table, kissing each other, with hands roaming over familiar bodies. Soon Blue was behind Grey entering him with a renewed passion for more. Grey bent over and braced himself as he took every inch. Red stood in front of him feeding him cock. Red shivered by the feel of it, the wet heat of Grey’s mouth. Once again, they moved together, flesh pressed against flesh, cocks manipulated, one in Grey’s mouth and one in his hole, while his own was stroked, Blue increasing his aroused state. Grey came first, spraying cum across the floor. Blue felt it, the way Grey spasm around his cock and he fucked harder, faster, pushing for release. Red came next, aroused to the point of release by watching Blue’s fuck, the way it became so physical, body against body, the sound of it echoing in the studio. Blue leaned over Grey, kissed him between the shoulder blades and up along the spine till he was kissing the back of the neck. He hugged Grey against his chest while fucking him. He nipped one shoulder and jerked with release as he filled him with his load.

Red and Blue stayed three days, most of it spent in Grey’s apartment. The three of them in bed, or sprawled out on the sofa, down on the floor and crowded into the shower, always working in rhythm to bring each other pleasure, till cocks lay flaccid and their muscles ached from their exertions. Then came time to leave, this time for only a few weeks. Blue was going back to turn in his notice and pack up his apartment. Red was going back with him, to help pack, then would fly back to Atlanta to sell off his furniture or donate it to charity, whatever it took to get rid of it. Between Blue and Grey, there was enough furniture for the three of them.

They knew it was an odd arrangement, the three of them planning a new life together. It wasn’t something anyone would call normal, and there were aspects they hadn’t figured out, but they didn’t care. They smiled like before. They joked with each other, especially Red with Grey, and there was a camaraderie that was being rekindled.

Blue followed Red down the narrow aisle of the plane till they came to their seats, each one in an aisle seat across from the other. They buckled in, waited through the completion of boarding, with the overhead bins finally closed, then there was the taxing out to the runway and the acceleration, the roar of the engines and the vibration as the plane gathered speed quickly, then smoothing out in flight. The plane climbed, turning one way, then another before heading northeast, back toward home.

“Can I ask again?” Red leaned over the aisle looking at Blue closely.

Blue smiled back, almost to the point of laughing. “I told you. Yes, I’m good with it. It only makes sense. If we want to do this as fast as possible, I’m the one who needs to quit my job and the two of us move to Austin. Grey has a contract with the school, and if we don’t want to wait till next summer, then we have to do it this way. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes. But you like your job.”

“I do, but its just a job, Red. A job I can get almost anywhere else. I can get a job in Austin. I’ve already started looking.”

“You have?”

“Yes, and there are five that look appealing.”

The flight attendant came down the aisle and they saw the cart being prepared for the serving of drinks and snacks.

“What about you?” asked Blue.

“I told you. I’ll either get a job with a real estate company, or maybe I’ll start my own.”

“Seriously, Red, do you think you can just open up an office and start selling real estate?”

“Actually, I do. I’ve thought about how to get started. I’ll have Grey refer anyone at the school who is looking to move. You know families that have outgrown their first homes, or just want to live in a different neighborhood. I could create the company, build a website and send out fliers in neighborhoods that are changing. It’ll take some time but…I’ll be my own boss.”

“And if the three of us are living together, expenses for each of us will be low.”

“Exactly, so Grey will not have to worry about being a starving artist, you don’t have to worry about a salary that may not be where it needs to be up front and I, with my little savings, will have time to get going with my own office.”

Thirteen Months Later

Blue stirred first, as he always did, stretching his arms and legs. He kissed Grey on the neck while slipping a hand down between Grey and Red. He felt the smoothness of skin, warm from a night’s sleep. He raked his hand downward till he felt one erection, then the other. He toyed with them till both began to stir. It was Sunday morning, and their anniversary. One year to the day they moved in together and he felt feisty. Aroused by the thought of their relationship.

“Happy Anniversary,” Blue whispered to the others as they stirred awake. As Grey came awake, Blue pushed into his hole, gently easing inch after inch inside him.

“Oh…fuck…” Grey uttered as Red snuggled up to him, kissing his neck, then around one earlobe, along the jaw then on the lips. They pushed their cocks together as Blue fucked Grey.

They were playful, mischievous as they had been in college. Their sex physical, three bodies intertwined. Each gave to the others. Each found his own pleasure.

They showered away the sweat from their exertions and went to the kitchen to make coffee. The sound of paws moving across hard wood floors came from the living room, coming their way. Red looked up to see a large blue tick hound round the corner bouncing toward them. Ears flopping and tail wagging it came to be with them, always looking for their companionship.

Blue stooped down and filled his bowl, then held out his arms letting the dog come into his embrace. It was his idea to get the dog, one that gave him the deepest pleasure, and a companionship during hikes and strolls around parks that the others didn’t understand. He scratched behind an ear and ran his hand down the back feeling the tight coat tickle his palm.

“Thor, you’re such a good boy,” said Blue as he gave the dog a hug. When he looked up, Red and Grey were watching them, smiling at his antics.

“I think he loves that dog more than us,” said Red, looking over at Grey.

Grey grew serious, leaning forward, “Blue, does he remind you of your grandfather’s dog?”

“Yes…and no. Thor isn’t as prone to get me in trouble,” replied Blue, causing the three of them to laugh.