I'm sitting on a couch in Ming's hospital room.  My sweet Kit is cuddled into my lap softly snoring.  He's had a busy morning so I can't blame him for falling asleep.

I have to admit when he ran off to help Ming and Yo I was scared out of mind.  I mean it's my job to protect him not the other way around.  When I tried to go help after calling the police Pha grabbed my arm and shook his head no.

"Truthfully Forth, we'll just get in their way." Then he nods his head towards the action.

I look over and I'm transfixed by the events unfolding. Kit jumping onto a guy and punching him in the face.  Beam easily taking out two men at once.  Kit flying through the air and taking someone down with a kick.  Then they were back to back and took on the group.  Easily they disarmed those men and quite frankly beat the hell out them.  Then they were all smiles like they'd been playing games.

It was amazing and made me feel foolish for worrying about Kit.  I clearly forgot that he'd had martial arts training since he was four.  Beam too.  In fact that's how they met.  Two little chubby four year olds at the same dojo.  Look at them now.  They've grown up beautifully. 

Since Kit and I were neighbors we'd been around each other forever.  He's only a year younger but I clearly remember always feeling like it was my job to protect him.  I met Beam when he did.  Kit's mother would take care of me since my mother worked so I would go with him to his lessons.  I liked Beam right away too but I didn't feel protective of him like I did for Kit.

Pha came into the picture when they started school. They became friends quickly and were inseparable.  I only spoke to them on the way to and from school since we had different classes but I still had evenings alone with Kit.  There were times I became jealous of them, they were always together, always happily playing. I felt left out.  When Kit would notice he always went out of his way to make me feel included. 

It was in middle school that I realized that the feelings I had for Kit were more than friendship.  I didn't do anything about it for two reasons: first was that I didn't know if he liked boys or girls and second I didn't know what the dynamic was in their little group.  For all I knew they were a threesome.

So I started pulling away.  I couldn't be around him and not love him.  My parents noticed that I did less and less with Kit and his friends and spent more time alone. I started hanging out more with friends my age which led to smoking.  My parents were getting nervous.  I wasn't a bad kid by any means but they were nervous I could take a wrong turn so they confronted me.

The best thing about my parents is that they always listened and never judged.  They always came up with options and we would decide together what was best for us so when I told them my feelings for Kit I expected nothing less than complete acceptance and understanding.

I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt when their first reaction was outrage and denial. For an entire week they wouldn't talk to me, they looked at me like I was a freak wondering what they had done wrong, when they did speak it was trying to convince me I was wrong and confused.

The people that had fostered so much trust in them that I felt I could go to them with anything and they would help had just let me down. I remember being so shocked I couldn't speak.  I remember crying and running out.  I remember being so let down and distraught that I almost jumped off of a bridge. I was there looking into the water.

Kit found me.  Kit saved me.

He brought me to his house and told his parents.  I assume they called mine because in no time my parents were there crying and begging forgiveness.  Of course I did but the trust I had in them was shattered.  I was never again so open and trustful of them.  I'm pretty sure they realized it too because from that moment I was guarded with my words and actions.

When we got home that night they changed the way they approached things.  They apologized for how they acted and emphasized that they loved me no matter what.  Then they sat down and we started planning ways to get my mind off of Kit and away from the boys who could lead me down the wrong path.

That was when I got into motorcycles.  My dad had taken me to a moto race and it was spectacular.  I wanted to continue doing that as a living but the Kit put his foot down and said no so I went for my second love: engineering.

I got my first motorcycle when I was 15.  I guess really it was a scooter but still it had two wheels and a motor so I was OK.  This was what I used to escape the pain of not being with Kit.  It was hard but not when I was riding.  I also started to compete with an off-road bike.  We would travel for races and I did pretty well if I do say so myself, enough that I thought I could make a living doing this but doing road racing instead.

It was a good plan and I was able to keep my mind off of the boy across the street.  I moved up to high school while he stayed in middle school.  I think he realized I was keeping my distance so he didn't push it.  It was hard.  Ridiculously hard and there were days I thought I was going to die being away from him but I held on.

The summer between grades 10 and 11 I had a motocross race.  The biggest I'd ever been in.  I was doing well too, holding my own for my first race.  It was during this cocky moment that my back wheel was nudged by the bike behind me and sent my bike skidding out of control and me flying off of it.

I don't quite remember what happened just that I woke up the next day in the hospital.  I woke up to Kit.  He was holding my hand asleep with his head on the bed.  The first thing I noticed besides the excruciating pain was my leg in a cast up to my hip. Well that sucked.

My movement alerted Kit whose eyes flew open and had him out of his seat and in my face.

"Are you ok? Do you hurt? What were you thinking?! It's not enough that you left me you have to try to kill yourself too!!!" He practically screams at me.

He drops back into the seat cradling his head as he cries.

"I hate you so much." He looks up at me with red eyes.

"Why am I not good enough for you? Why can't you love me the way I love you? Why couldn't you pretend not to notice? Why did you have to leave?"

I rubbed his head and let the tears fall.

"I thought you loved Pha or Beam so I had to go.  It hurt watching you with them."

"Are you an idiot?! Why didn't you say anything? Two years Forth! Two whole years! I suffered for two years." He broke down and cried harder.

My heart felt like it was ripped to shreds.  Was I really that blind? How could I have not seen it? It stopped right then. From that moment whether he wanted to or not he belonged to me. He would always be mine.

It was six months before I was out of that cast.  Apparently it takes a long time for the femur to heal.  You would think the plates they screwed in would help but no.  So I spent most of grade 11 in a cast.  On the bright side Kit's trio moved up to the high school so I had a very attentive Kit by my side.

It was the best thing ever.

Even though I couldn't do much with him the one thing I could do was make out with him and we did that a lot.

Once the cast came off I needed therapy but I worked hard and was able to walk in no time.  Of course the first thing I wanted to do was get back on my motorcycle.  The fight that ensued after that was the stuff of legend.  I fought valiantly but in the end I lost that battle and gave up racing.

So many things happened that year, I got to be with my Kit.  I made love to my Kit.  It was the best experience in my life. I spent every waking moment with him, loving him.

During my senior year we met Ming and Yo.  It was one of the best things since they teamed up with us against someone going after Pha and Beam. The six of us together were a formidable team and great friends. That was definitely one of my best years.

Then I went to college and I was pulled away. Everything went to crap after that. But here we are again.  The six of us proving that our friendship will always find a way for us to be together.

I look down at my sleeping Kit and kiss him softly. Thank you to whatever gods worked their magic to make this happen.