Six Months Later

I sat in the small living area with Mush and David watching the latest episode of Faking It! It was the fourth episode, the day of my infamous mechanical bull accident, and watching it happen was far more painful than actually living it. I winced as they showed my body fly up in slow motion and as they replayed my groin slamming down over and over, each time showing the shocked faces of the others.

"Wow! That's worse than I thought it would be!" Mush told me. He and David were snuggling on the couch while I sat in the chair, watching them enviously. That could have been me and Racetrack. "God, you earned that money that they gave you."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. In the six months since the show had ended, I'd come completely to terms with the entire ordeal. When I saw that the show was about to air, I decided to swallow my pride and at least watch it, considering my family would be watching it anyway. Mush and David had agreed to watch with me for moral support. They'd tried not to laugh, but I'd caught a few smirks and had heard a lot of snickering. I couldn't really blame them.

The money had actually been a small blessing. I'd stored a lot of it in the bank and, since I'd been doing a lot of freelance writing, I hadn't had to touch most of it. Now, though, Mush had been giving me small hints that he and David wanted to take their relationship to the next level and that, when the lease on our apartment was up, he was hoping I'd move out to give them their space. To be honest, I was beginning to feel like a third wheel anyway and I was all too happy to let them have their privacy. So now I was trying to find a good and affordable place for myself.

"Why don't you sue them?" David asked. "Some guy who was tricked on Candid Camera did that."

I shook my head. "When I agreed to be on the show, I signed a release allowing them to use any footage of me on the show in any manner they wished." With a sigh, I sunk back down into the chair, my finger stroking the glass of wine beside me. "Besides, I would just end up looking like some guy who got his panties in a twist."

"So have you been in touch with anyone other than that Mayfly girl?"

"No," I told Mush as I watched the TV. I'd, of course, gotten the phone numbers from everyone involved – minus Racetrack, who'd left prematurely – but I'd yet to actually call any of them.

"You could probably get his number from that British chick," Mush told me. "Didn't you say they were friends?"

I gave Mush a look. "Whose number?"

My friend rolled his eyes. "Racetrack. The guy you drool over every time this is on." When I didn't respond, Mush reminded me, "He may have been an asshole, but I can tell he really liked you and I know you liked him a lot."

"I did," I agreed. "I'm not denying it. But he left and he obviously wanted nothing to do with me."

"Blink, you guys had a fight! You were both angry and you both said things you didn't really mean. That shouldn't stop you from starting a relationship with someone."

I sighed as I watched the end credits roll. "I do miss him," I admitted.

The phone rang beside me and I snatched up the receiver. "Hi, Mayfly," I greeted, already knowing it would be her. We'd spent the last three weeks talking after each episode.

"Was it painful to watch?"

"Oh, yeah. Not my proudest moment."

"I didn't want to say anything, but I was kind of wondering if they'd rigged the thing to do that. Glad to see it really was just an accident."

"Nah, they're not that malicious. Besides, that would be a potential lawsuit, and I doubt they wanted that. You looked really hot in this episode, by the by."

"Thankies! You didn't look so bad yourself. And it was so cute when…well…he helped you."

I grinned, hearing Mayfly's hesitancy to say Racetrack's name. "You can say his name, May," I assured her. "And yes, it was cute."

"I'd forgotten about the big fight in the middle of lunch, though! That was hilarious!"

"Who knew it was staged? I certainly bought into it that day."

"Well, they're really good actors, Blink."

"True," I conceded. "Next week is going to be a bit of a bore, I think. Nothing really happened."

"Not that we saw. But yeah, it looks like a filler episode. Talk to you next week?"

"It's a date."

"Bye, babe! We need to get together for lunch or something because this whole not seeing you in four months? Not cool."

"I promise you, we will. I'll even pay. Bye, Mayfly!" I hung up the phone, my spirits somewhat more inflated than they had been minutes before. Mayfly seemed to have that affect on me.

Mush and David had already retreated to Mush's room, so I decided to grab some junk food and veg out. Before I could settle down with my bag of potato chips, though, the phone rang again. "Hello?"

"…Hey," said a voice that I hadn't heard in six months. "Um…how are you?"

I sat there mutely, not sure what to say. "I'm…I'm good. You?"

"Yeah, the same," he replied awkwardly.

"Um…how did you get my number?"

I heard a laugh on the other end. "Your mom gave it to me."

"My mom?"

"Yeah. I kind of stole her number from your cell phone and she and I have been talking for a couple of months."

"You've been talking to my mother?!" I bellowed. I knew my face was growing red.

"Don't be mad at her," he told me quickly, "I made her promise not to tell you. I just wanted…I mean, I didn't want to force you into talking to me or anything." I could hear his hesitancy on the other end. "I just wanted to give you time to…maybe forgive me?"

I smiled as I heard the hope in his voice. "I forgave you a while ago, Racetrack."

"I know it was crappy and I wasn't trying to hurt you. I swear to you, I wasn't."

"I know…I was just angry. I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

I heard him let out a sigh of relief. "I don't blame you for being angry or yelling at me, Blink. I…I was just hoping that maybe we could try and make this work."

This? What was "this" anyway? I mean, what did we actually have here? "How? I mean, where are you living?"

"New York right now."

I sighed. "I guess you want me to move up there?"

"Not quite," he said with a laugh. "I'm actually looking into coming down to Louisiana. I hear there's a great theater community and I'm looking at going to grad school."

"I'm flattered, but you don't have to move down here just for me," I told him.

"Get over yourself, Blink," he said teasingly. "You're just an added bonus to me moving to the Crescent City. You wouldn't happen to know of anyone who is looking for a roommate, would you?"

"As a matter of fact," I replied, my face breaking into a huge grin, "I think I may know someone who would love to have a hot, smart aleck, gay man like you as a roommate. How soon can you move down here?" I asked. And then, Racetrack said something that made me melt like butter.

"Just say the word, Blink, and I'll be there."

AN: And it's finished! It only took me four years! Thank you again to everyone who has read this. Thank you to the wonderful girls who provided me with the female contestants. Thank you!