Rating: PG-13
Original Date of Completion: June 2002
Disclaimer: I own naught. This is complete fiction, so don't sue me.
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Julie's POV
Seeing them kiss earlier wasn't anything I was prepared to see. As I stood there and watched them, I fully realized for the first time that it was over. Kris loved Kirk, like I knew all along. And obviously, he'd made his decision, he wanted to be with him. That left me as the odd man out.
But again, I couldn't feel sad about it. As I watched them kiss, I was almost happy. That's a feeling I couldn't really explain. It was my husband, kissing another man. Not just any man, one of my best friends. But I didn’t feel hurt, dejected, or anything like that. I felt warm inside. Together was where they were supposed to be, and I knew that. I knew that from the first second I met Kris. Together made them happy, and that's all I really wanted. I just had to make sure that they knew that.
Kirk especially. He looked horrified when I interrupted them earlier. I tried repeatedly to make eye contact with him, but every time, the driveway got those baby blues instead of me. I couldn't begin to imagine what kinds of thoughts were going through his head. He almost looked scared of me, which was a horrible feeling. But I guess I could understand that, he DID just steal my husband, it should only be expected that I be pissed about it. But I just can't be mad. I love the two of them way too much to stand in between any happiness that they may have together. That probably makes me weird, but I don't really care. As long as the two of them know I'm here for them, I'll be happy.
So that's why I decided to interrupt their make out session. I needed to talk to Kirk, they could suck face another time. But now, I sat in Keenan's room, clueless of how to start speaking. Kirk was fidgeting nervously, almost like he was waiting for me to explode. Again, he refused to make eye contact. But in this situation, that may not be a bad thing. Seeing him upset like this was really doing a number on my stomach. I had to start talking, regardless if what I said made even the slightest bit of sense. I took a deep breath, and cleared my throat.
"Kirk..." I started, before his head snapping up interrupted.
"Julie, you say the words and I'll walk away," He spat out quickly, not taking his eyes from mine.
From the look in his eyes, it became totally apparent to me that he meant what he said. The tears were building in his eyes, but he kept them locked to me. Just that one statement made me love Kirk even more. That he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for me was incredible. I knew how hard it was to give up Kris. That he was willing to do that, for me, made my heart melt. I couldn't help myself. I jumped up from my chair and slung my arms around his neck. The tear dams burst immediately. Hesitantly, he put his arms around me. The hesitation made me realize for the first that my crying could be taken as a bad sign for him. I laughed at myself, and pulled out of his embrace. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve then stared up at him. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking. Tears had silently flowed on his part, collecting in the fur of his beard. I reached up and swabbed a tear from his eye.
"Oh Kirkie," I spoke softly, wiping away another tear. "I could never take him from you sweetie,"
"What?" He asked in a whisper, closing his eyes.
"I know how much you love him Kirk. And he loves you just as much. I could never stand in the way of that,"
"What are you saying, Julie?" He whispered again, eyes peering deep into mine.
"I want you two to be together," I replied, grabbing his hand. "You have my complete blessing,"
His eyes lit up the second the words left my mouth. I quickly found myself back in his arms, and being swung happily around the room. I let out a big laugh, but stopped myself immediately as I saw Keenan stir in his crib. Kirk whispered an "Oh shit, I forgot" then dropped me back on my feet. But he refused to let me go, hugging me tightly to his chest. He smelled faintly of Kris, which strangely brought a smile to my face. As hard as it was for me to let Kris go, I had a feeling seeing the two of them together would always make me smile. I patted Kirk on the back and tried to separate from him, but still he held on tightly. I giggled and turned my head from his chest so I could speak.
"You're hugging the wrong Draper you know?"
He laughed and squeezed me once again. "I don't even know what to say Julie,"
"You don't have to say anything, Kirk. I just want you to know that I'm here for you,"
He pulled away from me and stared directly into my eyes. Call it compulsion, but I reached up and pushed a piece of hair from his forehead.
"I was so afraid you'd hate me," He admitted, glancing down at the floor.
I could never hate you Kirk, ever. You did nothing wrong here. I knew this was coming for a long time,"
Again, I found myself in his arms. This hug lasted longer than the others. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Telling Kirk everything was okay was the one thing I really felt like I had to do in this situation. Kris already knew. And even if he didn't, I had no doubts that we'd talk about it. But I was worried about Kirk, I knew how he was. But he knew now that everything was okay. And our friendship could go right along the way it was. If anything, this would make it stronger. I'd be there for him no matter what, he knew that now. It's kind of funny to think of, but I'd reverted back to high school. I was again someone's fag hag. Not that that's a bad thing. In fact, in this situation, it makes me pretty happy.
After a while, we separated and left the room. Not another word was spoken about the situation. Everything we needed to say was spoken in our respective smiles. That might sound corny, but it's true. We hugged again as we stepped from Keenan's room. I glanced downstairs and saw Kris' eyes glued on us. I could tell even from where we stood that there was a smile on his face. And seeing his, brought one to mine. I'd plotted from the very beginning that when this day came, I'd be as supportive as I possibly could be. Yeah, it hurts, but it would hurt me a lot more to lose them completely. I may look and sound like a psycho for being so supportive, but that's just what I do. My mother would have a field day with this situation.
To have everything taken care of, and to know everything was cool, put me completely at ease. This situation wasn't going to be easy. To think that there wouldn't be problems would be completely arrogant of us all. But as far as I was concerned, just let something try to screw this up. I may be losing a slight bit of happiness in giving up Kris, I don't think I'd ever really know how much. But I gained happiness from knowing he was happy. And Kirk could make him happier than I could ever dream of, I knew that from day one. It just took Kris awhile to figure it out. It's going to take a little getting used to, I'll never deny that. It may take me awhile to stop thinking "Damn that's hot" when they kiss. It'll be weird to see them together, and think to myself what a cute couple they make. It'll be weird not sleeping in the same bed with Kris anymore. And it'll be REALLY weird to not be able to set Kirk up with random guys from work anymore. But as far as I'm concerned, they were like my children now. I'd be there for them until the very end. And as weird as that may make me, it's what I'm going to do. Just let someone try to stop me.
TBC
© 2002 Triple X
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