Shifting Gears

Kyle's head was beginning to ring. "Yes... she mentioned you."

Dale looked him up and down and laughed. "I sure hope she did!" His laughter calmed and his expression turned serious. "I just got home and listened to the message Fiona left on our answering machine. I came over right away. I knew Monique would be with her best friend." He frowned in concern. "Hey, you aren't looking too good. Are you ok?"

Kyle nodded shakily. "Did... did you speak with Monique in Las Vegas?"

Dale's eyebrows went up. "Yes... we spoke on the phone a few days ago. Why?"

Kyle's stomach began to cramp, badly. "You didn't meet her at her hotel yesterday?"

The older man frowned at him. "I was in Denver until last night. What's this about? Is Monique ok?" he asked with a genuine concern that sent a spike through Kyle's guts. He found himself nodding to ease the man's mind while his own was spinning out of control.

His thoughts flashed back to Monique's confession in the Mexican restaurant, the troubled night on the foldout, and the anxiety and tears she'd shown him the following morning. It all felt... so real! The surprise encounter at the motel, her desperation to find him, the subsequent... activities, his mind reeled at the scope of the lie. He'd fallen for it completely as she'd been so damn convincing. Maybe... maybe he'd just wanted to believe.

That final thought was enough to send Kyle's stomach contents racing upwards.

He barely managed to get to the railing before he heaved over it onto the driveway below. He'd had very little for lunch so it was mostly water.

"Easy, easy son. Let it out." Dale said calmly, bracing Kyle so he didn't fall over the railing.

Finally, Kyle couldn't heave anymore and Dale eased him back down to sit on the step and handed him a tissue. Kyle accepted it and wiped his mouth. "Sorry," he croaked.

The older man touched his forehead with the back of his hand. "I don't feel a fever. Stomach flu? Food poisoning?"

Kyle looked the man in the eye and wondered if he was going to be hit by him. He didn't want another concussion but he wasn't going to lie to the man. He looked away.

"Would you say Monique is a determined person? A person who focuses on what she wants and gets it?" he asked weakly.

Dale blinked in surprise at the odd question then laughed as he thought about it. "Oh yes! She can be a spoiled little brat. She doesn't like being told no."

"While we were in Vegas, I got punched in the head, twice in two days, and was diagnosed with a mild concussion-"

"AH!" Dale said, thinking this explained his vomiting but Kyle shook his head.

"Everyone was coming back to Santa Barbara but I wasn't able to ride my motorcycle. Monique told us that you were coming to Las Vegas and she was staying behind to see you."

"What?" the man said in confusion.

"Bear with me a moment. Monique let me use the fold out bed in her suite's living room. I wasn't allowed to do anything but rest so we relaxed by the pool and talked. It was really nice. At dinner that first night she told me you two were having trouble in your marriage. Then she told me she was going to ask you for a divorce when you came to the hotel the next day. I moved to a motel to give you both privacy."

Dale's expression was stony as he held Kyle's eyes intently.

"This is where I ask you not to hit me. Not in the head at least."

The man watched him grimly but nodded slightly.

"I don't- I won't be with a married woman. My parent's marriage ended with infidelity and I promised myself I'd never become my father. Fiona knew that. Monique would have known as Fiona tells her everyting."

He glanced again at Dale and the man still didn't look like he was about to punch him so he continued.

"Monique came to my motel last night, soaking wet and frozen, looking pitiful. She told me she'd done it. She'd met with you, you talked, and you two were getting divorced."

"Why would she say that?" Dale asked gruffly.

Kyle looked at him helplessly. "Fiona boasted about having sex with me to her friends but now that she's with Cam... I think... I think Monique wanted a turn. So she could share the experience with her bestie. But, she was married so... she played me. All the lies. All the emotional triggers. I've never been so skillfully manipulated." Kyle shook his head in disbelief. "It's staggering." He looked at the man whose face was clearly showing his inner turmoil as disbelief battled his knowledge of how his wife's mind worked.

"I'm so sorry. I would never have allowed this to happen if I'd known the truth. If she hadn't been so damn convincing."

"Beautiful." Dale muttered.

Kyle paused then nodded. "Yes, it's one of her strongest weapons," he agreed with a frown.

Dale suddenly looked lost. "I- I've never been able to refuse her anything. But... this is the first time she's ever cheated on me... I think."

"God, I feel so... guilty and sick... and furious, all at the same time," Kyle snarled then he froze as he looked into Dale's eyes. "Wait, why did she ask me to come back to Santa Barbara if you were going to be here?"

Dale nodded as his expression became bleak. "I wasn't supposed to come home this weekend as I'm going to training camp for the next two months. She sounded a little off the last time I called her so I thought I'd surprise her."

Kyle looked away and his jaw muscles jumped in his cheek. "Geezus."

"I'd love to blame you and contribute to your concussion but I don't think you deserve it and I'm not willing to lie to myself. I'm too old for that shit. My age is also likely part of the reason she did it. I'm sure not everything she told you about our marriage was a lie. We have been having difficulties, largely because of my schedule. She'd include those truths to make what she said easier to believe." He waved his hand when Kyle went to speak. "Let's go inside and say hello." Dale stood and helped Kyle to his feet. "You go in first. I want to see her surprised look and see how she handles this.

Kyle nodded and took a deep breath to calm some of his trembling. He quietly opened the door and walked down the hall until he reached the living room. Dale waited back by the door.

Monique leapt to her feet as Kyle entered the doorway but he held up his hand to prevent her from approaching. Phoebe looked between them oddly.

"I'm so sorry, Kyle. I- I just got confused by how you handled Fiona. I should have known better." Monique gushed.

Phoebe was watching, trying to figure out why Monique was acting possessive. "What happened after we all left?"

Kyle made to answer but Monique spoke first. "Nothing!" At Kyle's surprised look she hastily continued. "I mean we relaxed, ate good food, and talked a lot."

He looked at her questioningly. "What happens in Vegas...?" Monique was giving him an intense look to be quiet.

"Oh my god! You had sex with Monique?" Phoebe asked in surprise, staring at Kyle.

"Ah, she didn't tell you about her divorce?" Kyle asked. Phoebe's eyes flew to Monique in surprise.

"I haven't told anyone anything Kyle. That's the point. She was just guessing and you gave it away," Monique said in flustered annoyance.

"I don't understand. You asked me to come back with you to Santa Barbara, even before Fiona's troubles. You never said I'd need to keep what happened a secret," he said reasonably.

Monique looked at him for a moment and he could see the wheels turning. She was probably wondering just how little she could say to appease her friend's curiosity while leaving her wiggle room. She nodded. "Ok, I didn't. Right." She looked to Phoebe. "Kyle and I had sex in Las Vegas." Her lips closed and she was done.

"Because you're getting divorced. I'd never ruin a marriage," Kyle said and looked at Phoebe who was looking more comfortable with him but was still giving Monique a confused look.

"When did you decide to get a divorce? I thought you and Dale were doing well, aside from his busy schedule," Phoebe asked.

"She spoke with Dale in Las Vegas when he came to visit her and he agreed to the divorce," Kyle offered before Monique could speak.

"Really?" Phoebe asked.

Monique was painted into a corner and looked distinctly uncomfortable. She looked to Kyle but he just held her eyes expectantly. Finally, she answered. "Yes, yes he did."

Phoebe looked back to Kyle and frowned. "Still, that was pretty quick for you to jump into bed with her."

Kyle smiled sadly as he relived the night of the Great Lie. "It was the moment. Showing up at the door of my motel in a thunderstorm, soaking wet and freezing. She looked so lost... so sad and lonely. And after all those years of neglect too. It was too much. My resistance crumbled. I guess I'm a sucker for a sob story." That last line came out a little more bitter than he'd intended.

Monique became indignant. "It wasn't a sob story! After what I went through, it was a plea for help and you were there for me in my hour of need- DALE!"

"Hello, Monique," the older man said with a sad smile as he walked into the room. "If you were that unhappy, if you wanted a divorce, you could have just spoken with me about it."

"What?" Phoebe asked, her voice tapering off in her confusion.

Dale turned his eyes to her. "I was never in Las Vegas. Actually, let's all be completely open and honest for a moment. The first time I heard of the divorce was when I met Kyle out on the front steps minutes ago. He was rather surprised to see me and confessed the events of the last few days. Everything."

Monique's eyes went to Kyle and he was surprised to see the raw hate there. "Hang on a minute. You're mad at me?"

"I think Monique and I need to talk and we should have that talk elsewhere," Dale said.

Kyle tore his angry gaze from Monique to look at Dale. "Remember, she always gets what she wants." he ground out.

"Not this time," Dale said sadly.

She huffed and looked away from Kyle, eyes darting to Dale. Kyle imagined she was already working on a plan to salvage this and his stomach turned once more.

"Come on," Dale said and Monique lifted her chin and left the room with as much dignity as she could.

When Kyle heard the door thump closed he trembled with unspent rage.

"So... she lied to you about getting a divorce just so she could have sex with you?" Phoebe asked incredulously.

"You'd have to ask her for her reasons but that was the end result. After my mistake with Gloria, there's no other way I'd have agreed to being with her. She's married. So she wove a very convincing story of being neglected and how she was divorcing her husband. She created this lie over two days. The night she found me in the motel was... grand theater. She's got what it takes to be an actor. She lies with no sign of conscience at all. She gets what she wants with no thought of the consequences." He grimaced and thumped his forehead with his fist in frustration.

"KYLE! Don't do that! You just had a concussion!" Phoebe exclaimed.

He looked at her in embarrassment. "Right, sorry." They sat opposite each other on the couches. He sighed then frowned as he realized someone was missing from this situation. "Where are Charlize and Chloe?" he asked.

Phoebe's expression turned awkward. "Fiona didn't call Charlize."

Kyle frowned. "Why not?"

Phoebe was having difficulty not staring at Kyle's bare chest. "Since she started going out with Chloe, it's been uncomfortable to be with her," Phoebe confessed.

"What? What are you talking about?" Kyle blurted.

Phoebe's look became a little defiant. "She's gay. All those years and she didn't tell us! It feels like she's been lying to us all that time!"

Kyle leaned forward and her eyes went to his chest once more. He wished he had at least one clean shirt to cover himself. "Is it because she's attracted to women or that she didn't tell anyone? Those are two entirely different issues."

Phoebe blinked and looked to the stairs to the bedrooms. Then she looked at Kyle. "I can't speak for the others. You know my issue with lying. How Linus lied to me every day we were together. I'm intensely sensitive to that now."

"I get that but you have to understand, it's the intention behind the lie that makes the difference. Linus's lie was malicious. He was pretending to be someone he was not."

"Same as Charlize-"

"No! Charlize is still Charlize. She hasn't changed. The only thing she withheld was an attraction to women. Charlize loves you guys as friends but she was worried about being cast out of the group if it was discovered she likes women too. Perhaps she'd heard some of you express less than supportive opinions on the subject? I've heard you speak negatively about lesbians-"

"I've never-"

"You were drunk. You wanted me to have sex with you. When I refused you lashed out at me and them, claiming I'd sleep with lesbians but not you. Not that it makes any difference, but you do realize that Charlize and Chloe are Bi?" He gave his head a shake to get back on point. "What's important here is that there was no evil intent behind her silence. Just a fear that this shunning would happen. You and the others need to rise above this. Don't lose a genuine friend."

Kyle paused as that thought resonated with him and he had to take a few deep breaths. "You need friends like that. Monique probably won't emotionally manipulate you or Fiona but I won't ever trust her again." He looked away as a flash of bitterness surged through him. "I never want to see her again."

Phoebe looked troubled again.

Kyle sighed as he shook off the negative emotions. "Well... shit. Coming back turned into a huge disappointment," he said wearily. "The beginning of this visit showed such promise. I met all these wonderful friends of Fiona's and I got to see this part of the country but recent events have... really soured the experience. I'm also no closer to figuring out what I should be doing with my life."

They sat in silence for a while until Kyle heard the washing machine chime indicating it was done. He got up and moved the wet laundry into the dryer.

When he came back out Phoebe was gone. He felt bad about that too but her rejection of Charlize and Chloe depressed him. He'd thought of all of Fiona's friends, Phoebe was the one most in tune with her spirituality and openness. She should have been more accepting of alternate lifestyles.

He dropped himself on the couch and rested his head back. The house was quiet and he listened to the muted rumble of the dryer until it lulled him to sleep.

Soft lips kissing his cheeks brought him up from the depths of his sleep. He was being kissed by at least two deliciously soft women who were leaning on him from both sides. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled widely as Charlize and Chloe grinned down at him. He looked between them and saw Phoebe standing a short distance away with a happy smile on her face. He gave her a grateful smile and nodded making her smile widen with joy.

"I thought we'd never see you again!" Charlize said and gave him a poke in the chest.

"Hey!" he yelped.

"That's for making us so sad!" she pouted.

"I missed you two as well."

Charlize's expression turned serious. "Listen, Phoebe told us what you did for us. She understands and accepts us. She also accepts my reasons for staying silent for all those years. She's going to speak on our behalf to Fiona. I can't thank you enough! These bitches mean the world to me and I don't want to lose my friends!"

Kyle smiled and nodded to them. Not satisfied with that Charlize took his face in her hands and kissed him sweetly.

The moment she moved back Chloe was right there taking a kiss of her own. Hers was a little more desperate. She moaned a little as he sucked on her bottom lip. When she pulled away, Charlize was guiding Phoebe towards him. He stood and wrapped his arms around her and she trembled as she was pressed up against the muscles of his bare chest. He tipped her face back and kissed her tenderly as well. "Thank you for restoring my faith in you!" Kyle said quietly once the kiss was done. Her face flushed with joy once more.

He released her and smiled at the three women. "I should get dressed."

"No!" Phoebe and Charlize said in unison as Chloe shook her head vehemently. Giggles burst from them.

"Yes," he said with a crooked smile. As he walked from the room he tugged the back of his shorts down to flash them and grinned at the squeals he heard. He dumped his dried laundry into a basket he found in the room and carried it out to the living room. Happy eyes tracked his return.

He set the basket down and quickly and efficiently rolled all of the clothes inside. He set aside clothes he'd wear tonight. He wondered how much time he had before Fiona's parents arrived.

Charlize came to stand beside him. "Not to be a downer but Phoebe told us what Monique did to you. That was some major head games. I'm really sorry she abused your trust like that," she said.

Kyle just nodded stiffly as it was still too raw for him. He turned and went back to the laundry room to collect his saddlebags and carried them out to the living room. Fiona was there facing away from him and Phoebe was standing close to her speaking quietly. Charlize stood by looking nervous. He stopped in the entrance and waited as he didn't want to distract them. A few moments later Fiona opened her arms and Charlize was there immediately getting a fierce hug. Tears were shed and Chloe received a hug as well, generating more tears.

When it seemed safe to do so Kyle walked into the room with his luggage and smiled at the friends.

"Ooo!" Fiona purred as she saw him in only his shorts. "Now I see the source of all these warm and fuzzy emotions!"

He smirked at her. "Cute."

She grinned broadly then looked around. "Where's Monique?"

Kyle's smile dropped away and he moved to his rolled laundry and began to pack it away in the bags. Fiona looked at him in surprise.

Taking this as her cue, Phoebe once more pulled Fiona close and filled her in on what her other friend had been up to in Las Vegas after they all left.

Kyle did his best not to listen as it just made him sick and angry to hear how he'd been manipulated so skillfully. Charlize and Chloe moved closer to hear the explanation once more.

He moved his saddlebags to the entrance to the hall leading to the front door. He wasn't sure where he was sleeping tonight. He felt Fiona suddenly hug him from behind and press her cheek to his back.

"I'm so sorry she did that to you!" she gushed as she held him tight.

"Thank you," he said with a rough voice.

She released him though her hands lingered a little on his stomach muscles. She turned to face Phoebe. "Where is she now?"

"She left with Dale."

Kyle collected the clothes he'd set aside and walked back to the guest bathroom to get dressed. He was still too upset to stick around and listen to them talk about Monique. He thought about that and came to the sick realization that the beauty had gotten into his head. Was it the thrall he'd been under with Gwen? Was he just looking for a replacement for her? A shudder went through him. This felt like a step backwards in his healing process.

He dressed as he worried about that. Was he following a cycle of falling for manipulative women?

He walked back out to the living room and eyes turned to him. "What's wrong?" Fiona asked, seeing his disturbed expression.

He shook his head and forced his concerns into the background. "So I get to meet the 'rents!" he said with a slight smile.

Fiona blinked at him then the lights went on behind her eyes. "Oh! Parents! Yes! They should be here shortly."

"Any idea what they wanted to talk about?" he asked.

She just shook her head.

"Do you want us to leave so you can speak privately to them?" Phoebe asked.