April 2008

"Which one would you have chosen: Noah or Lon?" Emmett asked while wiping his eyes as the credits rolled on The Notebook.

"Ooh, that's a tough one," Daphne said, sniffling. "Noah was Allie's true love, but Lon was rich, gorgeous, and seemed to love her."

"Ryan Gosling and James Marsden are both yummy."

Daphne thought about it while Emmett finished painting her toenails.

"I would have married Noah, too," she finally said.

Emmett nodded. "I agree. True love is more important than money. That Curtis of yours looks a lot like Ryan Gosling."

"Yeah, but student loans are going to leave him in debt for decades. If I marry him, it won't be for his money."

Daphne and Emmett were having one of their "Girl's Night" sleepovers at Daphne's apartment while Curtis was busy studying for an exam. After Justin had left Pittsburgh to move to New York City, Daphne had taken a part-time job with Emmett's party planning business as a server while earning her bachelor's degree, resulting in the two of them becoming good friends. Justin had recently returned to Pittsburgh and had an open invitation to their slumber parties, but he had "plans" with Brian on that particular evening.

"Of course, our little Sunshine gets to have it all: Brian is absolutely gorgeous, filthy rich, and loves Justin more than anything else in the world. It only took three years apart, a homewrecking weasel, and an eavesdropping fairy godmother for them to realize what they have. They've been happier than pigs in shit since Justin's been home and have barely left the bedroom."

"I know, that lucky little bitch," Daphne mumbled. "If I didn't love him so much, I'd hate his guts. Speaking of love, how's your love life going?"

Emmett cringed. "What love life? Why do you think I'm here with you and not at home with my legs in the air?"

"What happened to that one foreign guy you were seeing... Pedro, Paulo...?"

"Pierre?" Emmett waved his hand. "That's been over for ages... at least a week or two. He barely spoke English and was lousy in the sack. I'm sure there's been a Pedro or a Paulo sometime before, too."

Daphne snorted a laugh. "You go through lovers like most of us go through tissues."

"Well, that's the problem - every guy I meet is as disposable as a tissue. They're all either no good in bed, too dumb, drug addicts, bigger bottoms than I am, or broke as fuck. Or, even worse, they're too young for me. All the good men are either straight or taken."

Daphne picked up that month's issue of Cosmopolitan and looked at the model featured in the Brown Athletics advertisement on the back of the magazine, whom Emmett was very familiar with.

"You know, you did have a good man at one time... sexy, rich, nice, smart, a ten-inch cock, and awesome in bed, if I recall your extremely detailed stories."

Emmett glanced at the picture of the man in question. "Oh... yeah, him."

"Yeah, him," Daphne repeated in a husky voice. "Didn't he just sign with the Patriots?"

"How would I know? I don't keep up with sports," Emmett answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, bullshit. You can't tell me that you haven't stalked your ‘Drewsie' and his career since you guys split."

Emmett sighed, knowing that Daphne could see right through him. "It's only a one year contract as backup quarterback. This next season might be his last, due to his bad left ankle."

"Uh-huh," Daphne said with a shit-eating grin. "I wonder if he's seeing anyone or if he goes through them like tissues, too. I'm sure he has to beat the boys off with a stick. That is a beautiful man right there."

Emmett did not want to think about the one man he never got over being with other men, although the reason he broke up with Drew Boyd was so he could spread his wings and experience life as an out and proud gay man, which did not include being in a committed relationship.

"You still love him, don't you?" Daphne asked Emmett.

He began shuffling through the DVDs he had brought with him that evening to distract himself from thoughts of a certain sexy football player. "So, what do you want to watch next? We have Hairspray, P.S. I Love You, and The Nanny Diaries."

Daphne could see that talking about Drew was upsetting her friend, so she humored him. "Hairspray. That Zac Efron is growing up to be a hot little number. James Marsden is in it, too."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "You can have that infant and I'll take Mr. Marsden, thank you."

***************

The next day, Daphne called Justin and asked him to meet her at a coffee shop near the University of Pittsburgh campus so she could see him before her morning classes started.

"Hey Daph, what's up?" Justin asked when he found his best friend waiting for him, having already gotten coffee and pastries for them.

"Wow, I'm surprised I was actually able to tear you away from your beloved long enough for you to have breakfast," Daphne cracked.

"Brian does have a company to run, you know. I'm joining him there later to help out with a campaign."

"We need to do something to help Emmett," Daphne informed him. "He needs to get back together with Drew, stat. He is so lonely and I know that he still loves him. I mean, he was eating vanilla pudding and maple syrup last night."

"Oh shit," Justin said, knowing how serious that was.

"Out of everyone in the whole world, Emmett deserves to be happy with the man he loves."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that he seemed out of sorts at Babylon last weekend. Disinterested, bored. I don't think he even got laid that night. It's going to be tough getting them together, since Drew doesn't play football here anymore."

As the friends chatted about what they could do for the fabulous queen who would do anything for his friends, a beautiful blonde woman walked up to their table.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Are you two talking about Drew Boyd and Emmett Honeycutt?"  

Daphne, never one to hold her tongue asked, "Who are you and why do you want to know?"

"I'm sorry, my name is Sierra Campbell and I was briefly married to Drew Boyd before he came out."

"Emmett is one of our best friends. I'm Daphne and this is Justin."

"It's nice to meet you both. After I got over the initial shock and heartbreak of finding out the truth, I realized that Drew needed to live his life. In fact, Emmett catered our engagement party and had started to plan our wedding before he quit, because I later found out he and Drew were having an affair. I know that they dated for a little bit and of course everyone saw them kiss on TV when Drew came out publically. Drew and I are still good friends, and I ended up marrying one of his teammates last year with his blessing."

"Is Drew currently seeing anyone?" Daphne asked.

"No, he hasn't had any real boyfriends since Emmett. He knows that Emmett was trying to help him by getting him to explore his newfound sexuality, but Drew told me before that he shouldn't have allowed Emmett to let him go so easily. I want Drew to be happy, and he and Emmett seemed to be a great fit. Drew really loved him and I'm sure he misses him, and I'd love to help you guys get the two of them back together." 

Daphne pushed out a chair with her foot. "Sit, please. We need an idea of how to get them somewhere together."

Suddenly, Sierra's eyes got really wide. "Does Emmett still plan parties for a living?"

Justin piped up, "Yes, his company is doing great, planning and catering all sorts of events. Why?"

"I'm planning to throw a retirement party for my husband next month. Drew already said that he'll be there."

"Doesn't Drew live in Boston, now that he plays for the Patriots?" Justin asked.

"Training camp doesn't start until July and he isn't moving to Boston permanently, since this may be his final season in the pros. He's in Pittsburgh now and plans to keep his home here, since his family lives here in town. I first thought about handling all of the food and drinks for the party by myself, but the guest list is getting a bit out of hand. I'd also like to have a bartender. I'll hire Emmett's company to cater the party," Sierra announced, excited that she would be able to do something to help her friend.