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Chapter 7 - Boat Metaphores

I have been told countless times that my life is a river and I a boat. Of course there are twists and turns in this river, I am bound to hit a few snags, and sometimes if I am not careful I crash into a rock and sink. Then there are all those other boat metaphors: whatever floats your boat, we are on the same boat, and I completely missed the boat. When it comes down to it, sometimes we just have to with the flow.

***

"Ben we need to talk," Colby forced as Ben rushed out from the bathroom and into his room shutting the door in her face. "Ben, we need to talk," Colby shouted from the other side. After about a minute of silence the door opened and Ben pushed by Colby towards the front door. "Ben, we need to talk," Colby repeated finally as he exited the apartment and walked down the hallway.

"He hates you," Gwen said stepping out of her room in her hotel uniform. She put on an earring and approached Colby.

"How can I apologize if he ignores me? Maybe I should just leave and go back to America, this isn't fun anymore." The straight haired brunette collapsed on the couch.

"Maybe you should just be a sad little baby because you don't get what you want. Please, right there, you looked pathetic." Gwen placed her hands on her hips. "Not at all the domineering Colby I know."

"I don't feel like Colby at all right now, I used to be happy and peppy." Colby frowned and slumped down backwards on the couch. "I should just keep myself busy, bake that pie I never got to, go to work, and find a guy." Colby moved her head slightly to stare at the still standing Gwen.

"Sounds like a plan, I need to get to work." Gwen walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Did you tell Howard how old you are yet?" Colby asked sitting up. She wanted to end the conversation on another topic than her.

"I'm getting there," Gwen said a spark of worry in her voice.

"Don't be frightened, he won't care." Colby stood up. She was still in her dancing sheep pajama bottoms and grey t-shirt. "He really won't."

"Yeah, sure," Gwen mumbled then left the room.

Colby stared around the empty apartment at all the furniture and boxes she unpacked over a month ago. She felt horrible for what she did to Ben, but also knew that it was a mistake. She would make Ben listen to her.

***

Ben arrived at the BBC building earlier than usual and got to work on editing footage. Peter hadn't arrived yet and he wasn't sure when the blond would show up. Ben spent the night prior trying to think of a way to apologize to his co-worker. His brain couldn't formulate an apology because it was too busy being mad at Colby. Ben sighed; his roommate ruined it for him. The man drifted off in his thoughts and felt a wave of emotion carry him out into an endless sea.

"It's not like we were dating, we weren't boyfriend and boyfriend." Ben garbled to himself.

Ben questioned this obsession with Peter, why was it there? What did it mean? Could this be love? Ben froze at the thought of love. He had gone farther with Seth than he did with Peter. "You know what, it doesn't matter. Kisses mean different things to different people. I guess when we kissed it didn't mean anything to you."Peter's voice came through clear in his memory and Ben paused. He definitely did more physical stuff with Seth, but emotionally where did they stand.

A squeak and the open of the editing room door reveled Peter, he bit his lower lip and sat down silently in the seat next to him.

Ben moved the mouse over to some footage and dragged it to the main screen. His hand stumbled from nervousness. The presence of Peter made him shake, why did he care? The footage disappeared from the screen and Ben jumped.

"Here, let me," Peter leaned forward and reached for the mouse. His hand rested on Ben's for a moment.

Ben remembered the feel of this hand the first day they met. It felt different now, a bit sweatier but more confident. It felt like years before Ben moved his hand from under Peter's. An uncomfortable stillness filled the air and the click of the mouse burst through the room. The footage popped up on screen.

"I guess, I don't have it perfected yet." Ben let out a feeble laugh and watched the screen avoiding eye contact with Peter. Peter's hurt silence was obvious.

"Why?" Peter said returning his hand to his lap. Peter's voice sounded sore and melancholy.

"To be honest, I thought we weren't serious. We were still exploring with each other. I want to clear things up though, Howard is my roommate's boyfriend, and Seth…he's real." Ben whispered subconsciously afraid that Peter would hear.

"Seth," Peter spoke processing the name. His lips grew to thin slits. "I'm sorry,"

Ben looked up at Peter confused and bewildered. He noticed Peter's eyes for the first time, puffy and dry. Ben's heart went out to the man sitting next to him.

"I'm so sorry," Peter turned to look at Ben. "For all this confusion, I was scared that night in the bakery. I was scared of showing my true self. I really like you Ben, I was just so glad that I might have you I didn't even consider you were already taken, such a perfect guy like you." Peter turned and looked at Ben the full force of his eyes impacting Ben's soul.

"No, please don't call me perfect." Ben gulped. "I should have been more considerate of you Peter. I want you to know something though; when I kiss you it means something."

"Good, good," Peter nodded a bit weakly but a casual smile appeared on his face. "I know I shouldn't ask, but it will bug me. I guess I am just nosy. Are Seth and you a couple?"

"I don't think so; no I'm positive we're not. We haven't even had full on sex yet." Ben spat out the mood lightened in the room.

"Oh," Peter wanted to ask what they had done but knew it would be inappropriate. He did feel a spark though, a chance to get the guy he admired. Peter wanted to take it. "I guess, we could date then, right? Nothing serious though, we aren't a couple, right?"

"Right, just two guys, on a date," Ben nodded. "How about I pick you up this time, if that's okay?"

"That sounds great." Peter nodded. Peter wasn't sure what he was getting himself into as he wrote down his address on the piece of paper. The two joked around and finished the days editing before they left to go home and prepare.

***

Ben arrived at his flat in a chipper mood as he threw off his work clothes and ran the shower. The apartment was empty and in only his boxers he hurried to the bathroom. Ben slid them off and hopped in the shower to begin cleaning himself. The door into the bathroom jiggled and Ben's heart leapt. Someone was trying to get in and he had shampoo in his hair.

The door opened and slammed. Ben rinsed his head as fast as he could and popped open his eyes. They stung with shampoo residue and he noticed the shadowy figure of someone behind the curtain. He mentally prepared himself for a psycho and stuck his head out to see who it was.

"Ben, I'm sorry for bursting in here but we need to talk." Colby shouted when Ben stuck his head out. "Wow, you need a haircut…sorry off topic."

"Colby, privacy," Ben shouted.

"You know what, no, we don't need to talk, I need to talk. I am sorry I ruined it between you and Peter. It was a mistake and I can't believe you don't understand that…how immature are you to…" Colby shouted.

"Colby," Ben said in a clam voice, "Colby calm down…I'm not mad anymore, and I understand. Plus, I have a date with Peter tonight."

"Do you? You jerk you gave me all that grief and…oh not mad, good, great." Colby smiled her happy self back in full force. "Wow a date, you need to tell me how that goes."

"Yeah, first I need to take a shower first though. You know, get clean." Ben pointed out the steam coming from the shower behind him.

"Oh, are you naked in there." Colby said with a smirk appearing on her face and she approached the shower.

Ben clutched the curtain and pulled it tight against him. "Yes, not for your eyes."

"Shame, okay, I will let you finish up in here. You need to take shorter showers though, I don't know what your doing in here but…yeah keep it quick." Colby nagged and left the bathroom.

***

Ben put on a nice blue polo with some little designs stitched into the front and a pair of his favorite blue jeans. He took the tube to the stop and found Peter's house no problem. Peter lived on the outskirts of London and Ben wondered how Peter could afford such a nice house.

He hurried up the steps and knocked on the door which opened abruptly. Petunia stood staring up at him with a delighted smile on her face.

"You did come, I am so glad to see you again American Ben." Petunia greeted and stepped aside so Ben could enter. "Let me introduce you to daddy, he will be so glad to meet you." Petunia skipped into the living room.

Ben took it upon himself to shut the door and follow the girl into a clean room with a set of hunting rifles to one side. Great, meet the father, he hated when the father hunted.

"Daddy, look, this is Ben," Petunia grabbed an old man's hand who sat in a comfortable chair.

The old man had a giant bald spot and wore a worn red sweater. His face was wrinkled with age and his eyes took on some cataracts which was understandable. He glanced up at Ben and squinted.

"Ken, what? Ken?" The old man said his voice surprised.

"No, Ben daddy, Ben…" Petunia forced and looked at Ben. "He gets confused sometimes, this is Ben,"

The father looked at Ben curiously and nodded hello then turned back to look at the wall.

"Ben," Another voice said.

Ben turned around and spotted Peter who wore a fashionable argyle sweater and khakis. He entered the living room beaming and then walked past Ben to his father.

"Dad, this is my friend from work, we are going out to eat." Peter informed his father. "If anything, call," Peter said to Petunia who nodded and held her father's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Ben gave a wry smile and followed Peter out of the house.

"Okay, I know this fantastic Japanese place, it's really good." Peter explained the dishes and how the tables were metallic.

Ben couldn't stop thinking about Petunia and the father at home. He didn't know that Peter's father was so old. As they walked down to the Tube station Ben brought the topic up again.

"Your dad, is he okay alone with Petunia?" Ben said his voice worried.

"Yeah, she knows how to take care of him." Peter said as if it was nothing he looked up at an electronic sign which showed the train would be a few minutes.

"How is it, living with him?" Ben questioned.

"He's fine, most of the time he is okay, some times he gets a little confused." Peter spoke trying to keep the topic from becoming something big.

"I'm sorry," Ben stated. He pushed his lips into a sympathetic sigh.

"Please don't pity me, it is fine." Peter smiled at turned to the guy next to him reaching out and grabbing Ben's hand. The feeling of the smooth skin against Ben's hand sent shivers up their backs.

They both smiled at each other and then watched as the train slid to a stop in front of them. The red doors slid open and the Underground insignia stood out against the white shell of the car.

***

Peter and Ben entered the classy Japanese place and took a seat at a metallic table near the back. Some interesting box like lights hung from the ceiling. Ben looked at the menu and noticed the name Jap-Tango. Oh great, this was one of those dancing places. He was such a horrible dancer. Ben was the type of guy that would stay at the bar at clubs and get drunk.

"Oh, they have a dance floor," Peter said hinting at the fact.

Ben gulped and nodded. "Oh, I see that, that's a nice feature, so what should we order. That stir-fry sushi noodle ikebana dish looks interesting. Wow, this is really a new age-y type place." Ben skimmed down the menu and looked at all the dishes.

"Yeah, do you like to dance?" Peter looked across his menu with a childish smile on his face.

"I'm…" Ben wanted to tell the truth and admit to Peter that he hated dancing. He knew that his date picked this place especially for that reason. It was Jap-Tango. "I'm quite partial to it actually," Ben lied.

"Oh that's fantastic; I was worried you wouldn't like it. I love to dance, it's like I am a whole other person when I do." Peter looked over to the dance floor which was empty. "How about we have a go after we order our food, while we wait,"

"Oh, on an empty stomach?" Ben questioned, regretting his decision to tell a false statement.

"Well, we wouldn't want to do it on a full stomach," Peter chuckled beaming with gladness on the approaching dance.

The waitress came and they placed their orders. She promised to return with glasses of water. Peter stood up and held his hand out for Ben to grab. Ben hesitated but took it and followed his date onto the dance floor.

A sultry Latin song boomed out from the speakers and Ben winced at the fast music. He tried to pull all his middle school dance knowledge together when Peter snapped his fingers and struck a pose.

"Oh crap…you're a Mikhail Baryshnikov." Ben whispered to himself under the loud music.

Peter reached out and grabbed Ben's hand spinning him around and catching him in a dip. Their faces were only inches apart when Peter flipped up and pulled Ben with him. As Ben stumped from the surprise dip he felt like putty in Peter's hands. Peter wrapped his arm tight around Ben's waist and grinded into him. Ben was a top; he should be doing the grinding. Peter was awfully good at it though.

Ben became flustered over all the close contact and felt connected, his hips moved with Peter. Then they broke and Peter moved his hands in such a way to spin both of them around. Ben's limbs went flailing all around and he let out a sigh of relief that there were no other dancers. Ben finally got his bearings from the spin when, once again, he wasn't sure how he got there, but he was in the dip. The song came to an end and Peter led him off the dance floor. The two must have inspired other couples because it became more crowded all of a sudden.

"You're a good dancer," Ben said all the sexual energy from the dance invigorated him.

"Yeah, I took a few classes as a lad," Peter swept his hand in the air as if it was nothing.

***

Colby sat at the cheep plastic table with Gwen as they tasted one of the pies Colby had finally made.

"Food tastes so much better after midnight." Gwen swallowed the pie. "Howard was impressed that he got with an older woman when I told him."

"See, he didn't care," Colby smiled taking a bite of the pie. "I still have yet to meet him; we should all do something together."

"Yeah, he is just so beautiful." Gwen said closing her eyes dreaming of when they went to third base. Gwen wouldn't admit it but she was falling head over heals for Howard.

The door opened and shut and Ben walked in a glow about him. He slid in one of the chairs around the pie. He eyed the pie for a moment then looked up at his two roommates.

"Home, at twelve…did the date not go well?" Colby sighed cutting Ben a slice. She scooped it onto a plate and slid it over in front of Ben.

"It was amazing," Ben breathed his voice still in a dreamy trance.

"Oh, the sex was good?" Gwen smiled. "Quick but good, that's how I like it,"

"Actually, we didn't have sex, we just kissed…not even made out…just a sweet kiss. We danced though, it was…orgasmic," Ben looked down at the piece in front of him and began to eat it. He swallowed the goodness and was glad that Colby finally completed this masterpiece.

"Wow, that sounds so romantic," Colby smiled. "I didn't know you danced?"

"I don't, he was a freaking Billy Elliot and I was…well me." Ben admitted. "But, wow," Ben said with the smile still on his face. He couldn't get Peter out of his mind that night as he fell asleep.

Who says that our boat can't be a party cruise? Who says that our boat can't have games, a pool, and a five star restaurant? Yeah, there are turns in the river but we have to enjoy the ride and realize that we can stay afloat. Then there are those other boats, when someone asks if I'm a virgin. Well, those boats have sailed long ago.

***

(((AUTHOR ANALYSIS)))

Okay, so I think I am going to put a hold on these for a bit. Let you guys try and find the stuff yourself or just enjoy the story for what you see in it. To wean me off I am just going to drop hints at important topics: Pie, Peter's family, Full circle thinking about Peter and Colby, ending thinking about Peter and Colby.

Anyway, this was a happy chapter; I wanted to make it a repairing friendships happy thing. You know the calm before the storm, which is coming, sooner or later.

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