Chapter 8

The next morning we were all feeling worse for wear. The only thing that any of us seemed to regret was the amount of alcohol we had consumed. I'm not sure I regretted even that, as last night probably wouldn't have happened without that lubrication. So, although we had headaches we all had smiles and little touches of affection.

Gabi stayed with us until after breakfast and then returned to Drew, so I think she was becoming more comfortable en femme. I was wondering if I or either Sarah or Ellie would treat Drew differently to Gabi. The answer was a surprising no. I couldn't see Drew and not see Gabi in his eyes and even actions. I'm not sure if it was just my imagination, but his movements seemed more obviously feminine. I had noted that he was naturally graceful, but now it seemed delicate and sensual in a way men just don't move. To be fair, not many women move like that either and those who do are usually classified as girly girls. Nothing over the top and I am positive there was no intention on his part, it was completely natural and beautiful.

Besides our hangovers, Drew was also suffering from his hand injury. It had swollen significantly during the night with a very obvious bruise covering the back of the hand and was still very painful to use. Ellie was our nominated first aider with the most knowledge, although we had all done a first aid course.

“I don't think anything is broken,” Ellie said after getting Drew to move his fingers, “but I think it is best if a qualified doctor looks at it. I think our first stop is going to be the hospital. Do you have insurance?”

“I have travel insurance, but it was arranged as part of my dad's credit card perks, so I don't know if it is valid anymore. I took a picture of my travel insurance on my phone, I'll give them a ring to check.”

He fiddled with his phone, wrote down a number and then tried calling it. We could hear him go through a series of phone filters and then be put on hold. He wandered down to the front passenger seat to wait for someone to answer.

“That's the first time he has mentioned his family without breaking down,” I mentioned.

“Yeah, but the sadness returned to his eyes. I think he is getting better, but he has a long way to go. I can't imagine going through what he must be suffering through. I only hope what we are doing with him is helping and not taking advantage of him when he is vulnerable,” Ellie commented.

Sarah snorted in amusement. “I didn't hear any complaints.”

I giggled. “I think we all had fun last night. I just hope it is not a once-only event.” I turned to Ellie. “I feel pretty confident that we will know if we push him too far. He wants us to take the lead, but he is very capable of saying no.” That was my assessment, anyway.

Drew came back in looking a bit glum. “The insurance is still valid, as it was organised before and is separate to the credit card, which was valid at the time it was arranged. Unfortunately, since I am seventeen and still considered a minor, I will need a guardian to sign it for me. Which basically means I am not covered.”

“You're seventeen?” I said surprised.

“Eighteen at the end of August.”

“Could we sign for you?” Ellie asked.

“No,” Sarah answered for him, “it needs to be somebody who is a legal guardian. I have no idea how you can even arrange that in your circumstances. I do know who to ask though.”

Sarah left to phone her parents. I don't think she wanted to talk about Drew's situation in front of him in case it upset him. In the meantime, I had Drew transfer any important pictures from his phone onto the laptop, so that we had another copy, just in case.

It included pictures that were taken with his family at Disney. He cried, but smiled at the same time and pointed out all his family and what they were doing. Then it became too much for him and we put him back to bed, sandwiched between us.

We cuddled him and stroked him until he calmed down. He wasn't having the great racking sobs that we remembered from when we first met him, so I think he was getting better and it didn't take more than maybe ten minutes before he was able to get back up.

We moved back to the living area where Sarah was waiting for us.

“Good news, my mum is prepared to become your legal guardian until your eighteenth birthday. As a judge, she can cut through a lot of the crap, but you will still need to sign some papers in front of a witness. She has given me an address of a retired judge we can go and visit. She is going to fax him the documents. All we have to do is sign in front of him. He is a friend of a friend, but the closest contact that she could find. It is sort of on the way to our next destination, and we can go to the hospital after that.”

Ellie wrapped his hand in a bandage and put his arm in a sling. That was just to remind him not to use it. Then we started off to Oklahoma City. Thank goodness for sat nav.

I waited in the RV with Ellie while Sarah took Drew into the retired judge's private residence. After about twenty minutes they returned with a bunch of papers and we started off to the hospital. We were a low priority, but fortunately, it was a slow day so it didn't take too long before we were seen. They suggested an x-ray to make sure there were no fractures. That turned out negative, so it was just bruised and strained.

We arrived in Tulsa in time for dinner. There was no concert tonight, so we decided to get dressed up and take Drew out for a restaurant dinner. We parked at the venue and dressed to thrill. This time, even though Drew was not en femme, we asked him to sit on the bed and watch us get dressed.

We all put on a bit of a show for him, or at least, Ellie and I did, Sarah was still a bit reserved with Drew. We chose our sexiest underwear and slid it sensuously over our legs while watching Drew's reaction. Ellie even got him to choose between different outfits.

We really did need to buy Drew some more clothes. I think the problem last time may have been because we were looking in the wrong section. Subconsciously, none of us liked dressing him in male clothes, so we were never going to find something we liked. It did mean that he stuck out somewhat when we got out of the RV. Three ladies dressed to perfection and one guy in casual clothes.

I realised what I really wanted was Gabi to be going out with us and I had a feeling that if I was patient and didn't push too hard, that would eventually happen.

When we park the RV at the venue, we are always guided so that we are in the right place. It was only when we exited all dressed up that it became obvious that we had been reassigned. Around us were the three RV's of The Bleeding Heart Boys band. Considering what had happened the last time Drew had met them, I didn't like that at all. I wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

“Why did they position us here?” Sarah asked what I was thinking.

“Don't know, don't care. We are going to have a great night out and sort it all out tomorrow,” I declared.

“We are just going to a restaurant, aren't we?” Ellie asked. “After last night, I'm not sure I am up to a night on the town.”

“All we need for a great night is some good food and good company,” I remarked, linking arms with Drew on one side and Sarah on the other. Ellie doesn't usually like to be held like that, but this time decided that she wanted to join in and held Drew's other arm.

We picked up the uber we had organised out the front and went to the Italian we had looked up on the internet. We had a booth organised with candles for lighting and someone playing the piano in the background. Drew struggled to use his right hand, so we took it in turns to feed him. That didn't seem fair, so we fed each other as well. It was one of the most romantic meals I have ever had. To start with we pretended to be loving, with over the top intent staring into each other eyes as we fed a morsel of food and the person receiving it, acted like it was the sexiest food on earth. Licking lips, lots of tongue action and appropriate moans. We giggled, we laughed and then somehow the atmosphere changed and our actions became more natural and sincere. We couldn't stop because Drew really needed the help, so instead, we just toned it down and everything felt more heartfelt. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and there was something about Drew's liquid brown eyes that really drew us all in.

We returned to the RV smiling, comfortable with each other in a way that I can't remember ever feeling about anyone else. I admit that I am young and inexperienced, but I thought I had been in love before. Now I was beginning to think I had just been naïve. I didn't want to say it out loud. I didn't want to be the first to admit it. We all seemed to be on the same wavelength, so I don't think I was the only one to think it. I had found love and I don't think I was alone.

When you are young, before you even know your sexuality, you are inundated with images of the supposed perfect life. You find the perfect man, fall in love, have children, live happily ever after. As girls, we dream of white weddings, comforting children and believing the most important things in life are love and family. When you realise you are gay, your belief in the system becomes damaged, that perfect life is not for you and you have to redefine your happily ever after. That night I redefined it again. I wanted all of us, living together. The night before wouldn't have worked without all of us playing our part and tonight was the same. I didn't want one partner, I wanted three. But Drew was going to leave us and it would all fall apart without him, or more accurately, without Gabi. So walking back I was feeling warm with love, excited about tonight, because I was feeling loving and was hoping for some intimacy, and, at the same time, there was a hint of sorrow, knowing it all had to end at some point.