“I love you Mary ... God I love you!” I chuckled, “You just healed me and it felt amazing! I didn’t think I’d ever get to experience a ‘ha...py ending’ ... till you gave me this one, just when I needed it most.”She pulled up my shorts then shared my spend with me in a passionate kiss that we hadn’t engaged in for far too long.She knew what I’d just thought, “Charlie, sometimes you don’t realize all the help you DO have when you need it. Nobody feels like you let them down, just because you didn’t. So I was forcedto conceal my real self, the self that screamed for relief. The self thathad a crush on the hottest guy in school. No, not the captain of thebasketball team (though Brian is incredibly hot), his polar opposite.Zane usually sits with his back in the corner of the cafeteria brooding,keeping his back covered watching everyone with an amused look on hisface. Not even the girls know how incredibly hot he is. Girls areforbidden from the gym when the boys have PE. And he doesnt. ‘Look! She hit on him and he almost didn’t know what to do.’ I messed around with kisses and tickles and licks and said, ‘You are being hard on my love life. Let’s go join the rest. You can give me advice about rationing later.’ ‘Rationing?’ There was outrage as I left. A family table had been set in the back, and we ate heartily of the excellent pot roast. There were turnips and rutabagas, which I relished, although I noticed a few being put to one side on other plates. There was a chair at. This time one or two looked vaguely impressed — they evidently hadn't expected him to take the second one, but to them, two drinks was nothing. They all began making drinking motions with their wrists, egging him on for another one. He turned back to the barmaid, watching with a small smile on her face, and nodded. This time, he watched intently as she mixed the shot and saw that it was made up of roughly one part vodka, two parts whisky, and a liberal dash of — his eyes widened and his mouth.