MARSHALL APARTMENT
"Do you remember that night?" Jason
begins pacing now, his steps slow and confined to a tiny area. His gaze
is fixed on the carpet. "You must. It's--it's very clear to me, and I was
at least as drunk as you. And I was barely awake."
When there is no response, he glances
up. Alex is standing still, almost frozen. His arms are folded, one supporting
the other as the fingers reach up to rest on his lips. His eyes are glued
to the floor as if held there by some magnetic beam.
"I know you remember it," Jason says.
Still nothing.
"Are you ..." Jason stops, places
his hands over his face, and exhales deeply. "Are you scared? Is that why
you keep hanging onto this thing with Lauren, even though it's not going anywhere?"
"That's not fair."
Jason looks over at Alex, almost
surprised to receive a response.
"That's not fair," Alex repeats,
looking up but still not directly at Jason. "It's not fair to--to accuse
me of using Lauren."
"No, you know what's not fair? What's
not fair is you doing this to all of us."
"I'm not 'doing' anything!" Alex
counters, his voice forceful but tentative at the same time.
"Yes, you are, whether you want to
be doing it or not. Stringing Lauren along or--I don't know what, without
letting her know why you're really holding back. She likes you, Alex. A
lot. And it's not fair to leave me in the middle of this, wondering, having
to keep stuff from my other best friends -- my girlfriend, for God's sake!
None of that is fair."
He watches Alex fall silent again.
Alex turns his back, folding his arms up again.
Jason steels himself, knowing that
he will have to be the one to push this along. "We need to get this cleared
up."
Neither of the young men moves at
all for a long moment, except for Jason moving his eyes around the room.
Finally they fall back to the floor. He breathes slowly, trying to will
himself to do what he knows he must.
"Just tell me the truth, Alex," he
finally says. "Are you gay? Or bisexual?"
For a second there is nothing, and
Jason can almost feel the end of this upon them. But then Alex turns around,
a look of very distinctive anger ruling his face.
"Just trust me, okay?" he fires.
"I have everything under control. There's nothing to worry about."
He moves for the door and has it
opened before Jason can even think of a reaction.
"Go," Alex says.
"What? Alex, no--"
"Go," Alex repeats. "You need to
leave."
Jason lingers in place, leaving his
gaze on Alex. Finally he begins walking, and goes through the door. When
he is out in the hallway, he turns back to Alex.
"Don't do this," he urges.
Alex allows a moment of eye contact
before closing the door.
Jason raises his hand to the closed
door but lets it fall. He can't do it, not now -- he doesn't know if he
can and, besides, Alex won't let him.
He heads down the hallway, towards
the elevator, his head hung sadly as a shiver courses through his body.
END OF EPISODE #198
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