Copyright 2003 Frank Downey and Girl Friday. All rights reserved. Any
use other than personal archiving requires the permission of the
authors. Do not repost.

This story contains adult material. If this is illegal where you
reside or if you are underage where you reside, begone.


This little tale is an experiment, a little collaboration between
Frank Downey and Girl Friday. Friday came up with the initial idea.
Frank wrote part one and posted it on his forum. (Forum? Yeah.
FDWritings at Yahoo Groups. Come on over, it's fun!) Friday wrote
part two. Part three, the dialogue was a collaboration, the rest-
including the 'love scene', was written by Frank. Friday wrote part
Four. The first part of part Five was written like part Three-the
ending was written by Frank on an idea of Friday's.

It was fun, so we hope you like it <G>.

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
By Frank Downey and Girl Friday

PART ONE

I wound my way up the hilly terrain leading to Penn State
University. I'd made this drive a number of times in the last year.
Maybe I hadn't made it enough.

I had been summoned--there's no other word for it. Michaela, my
girlfriend, had called me earlier in the week and just about demanded
I come up for the weekend. "Ian, you'd *better* get up here! Now!"
She mentioned something about Halloween parties and such, but there
was another undercurrent to her entreaties. I wondered if this was
it. You know, *it*. The end.

We'd been together since junior year in high school. Now we were
just into our sophomore years in college. The problem was, we didn't
go to the same college. She, of course, went to Penn State. I went to
Georgetown. On a map, they almost look close. Yeah, right. You don't
know how fucking big the state of Pennsylvania is until you have to
drive through half of it to get to your sweetie. And that's after
going through Maryland.

Last year, our freshman year, had been--well, OK. We got through it.
And the summer, back together in our hometown, had been marvelous.
But, this year--look, Georgetown is a ballbuster of a school, and
Penn State isn't much better. Schoolwork swallowed our time. We
hadn't seen each other at *all* since school started, and that was
almost two months now. We IM'ed and talked on the phone, of course,
but that wasn't the same--and our conversations as of late had been
strained.

Look, there was no question how I felt about her--I loved her. She
loved me, too. But long distance relationships *suck*. Especially at
college, because--well, you want to talk about *pressure*? I got
untolds amount of shit from my buddies for being loyal to a girl a
couple hundred miles away. I'm sure she got the same. And, watching
my buddies pair up with girls at school....I don't mind telling you,
it wasn't easy. It couldn't have been easy for her, either.

So, she demanded my presence on campus for the weekend of Halloween.
I cleared my decks on the schoolwork front and, on Friday afternoon,
headed up there. I couldn't tell, and she wouldn't say over the
phone, if this was a rejuvenation attempt or a break-up. As I said,
we loved each other--but neither of us were happy. So, as I entered
the campus to confront the girl I'd been in love with for three
years, I had no idea what was going to happen.

PART TWO

Damn it, where was he??

It was 3:30 in the afternoon and Ian still wasn't here.  Christ, I
know it's not the easiest drive from Georgetown, but I really needed
to see him. It had been two months since the last time we'd been
together and I was completely frustrated. 

Have you ever tried to have phone sex with your roommate listening
in? Or the damn door bursting open at *exactly* the wrong moment?
GRRRRR. Not at all like the real thing. When Ian and I are together
it's fabulous, but apart, well-- it leaves a lot to be desired. I
needed time with my boyfriend and I needed it *now*.

Do you know how hard it is to be faithful to someone who isn't there
when everyone around you is paired up? It sucks. It wasn't just the
sex, which was always exquisite-- it was the little things.  Stupid
stuff like holding hands at the movies, sitting cuddled up on the
couch, teasing him about his knobby knees-- all the things that don't
work when you can't be together.  But that wasn't the worst part. 

The worst part is loving someone you can't be with and finding
yourself attracted to someone else.

His name was Greg and he lived across the hall. He was smart and
funny and sweet. We've been spending time together as friends but
more and more I found myself wondering what it would be like to kiss
him. 

Greg knew about Ian. How could he not? I talk about him all the
time. Greg asked me to do the round of parties with him on Halloween,
just to get out of the dorms, no pressure.  

I knew there was more to it than that. I could feel the attraction
running between us.  If I went with him, something was going to
happen. So I did the only thing I could-- I said no.  Then I called
my boyfriend and demanded a little attention. Things were quickly
reaching a breaking point.  Ian and I needed time together before it
was too late.

Damn it-- where the hell was he?

PART THREE

I pulled up to her dorm shortly before 4. Traffic on 83 had been
murder. I got to the front desk and they called up to her room, she
told them to send me up. I got off the elevator and there she was,
waiting for me, in the doorway to her room.

"It's about time," she muttered.

"Hello to you too," I said with an impish grin.

She sighed. "Look I'm sorry okay, but it's been forever."

"For me too. *You* weren't the one that just spent 45 minutes stuck
in construction in Harrisburg."

"I said I was sorry. Can I have a kiss now?"

"You bet you can," I chuckled, and leaned down to kiss her.

She sighed after we broke the kiss. "I really needed that." She
snuggled close into me as we walked trough the door into her room.
"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too. This is tough on me. I know it's tough on
you, too."

We moved over to her bed. She looked up at me, a single tear tracing
down her cheek. "I can't take this Ian-- it's too hard."

"It's hard for me, too, honey. I wanted to get up here before this,
it was just impossible."

"I know Ian but I can't stand this. I need you so much. I hate not
being with you."

"I don't know what to tell you." I smiled slightly at her, though it
was a bit strained. "I *knew* I was coming up here for this
conversation. Our last couple times on the phone, I could tell you
were frustrated."

"Frustrated, upset, lonely-- horny. I need to talk to you babe, but
right now I just want to hold you."

"I can relate. To all of those." I took her into my arms and lay
down on her bed, just cuddling her. "Like I said, this isn't easy for
me, either." I laughed. "My roommate has a girlfriend. She's great,
they're great together, but I have to sit there and watch all that
kissy-face."

"Yeah, it sucks."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for *them*, but....."

"It's the same way around here and it just makes me miss you more."

"I've missed you, too, Michaela." I moved my hands to her breasts.
"Goodness knows I've missed *these*," I grinned.

"Shut up and kiss me," she groaned. I was glad to do *that*! Our
lips ground into one another as my hands roamed over her boobs. Her
tongue slipped into my mouth and sought out mine. I reached for the
waistband of her shirt and disconnected from her lips long enough to
slip it over her head. Bless her, she wasn't wearing a bra. I cupped
her boobs in my hands as we continued to kiss.

She quickly reached down to my belt buckle and began prying it
apart. I got the hint and helped her, and quickly afterwards went for
*her* pants. My shirt got shucked somewhere in there, too. When we
were both naked, I kissed down from her lips and started sucking on
her nipples.

"Oh, God, I can't take any more! Please, Ian, make love to me! Now!"
she hissed. I moved back up along her, kissed her again, and aimed my
dick at her pussy. I slid right in and she groaned as I hit bottom.

"Oh, so long, it's been so long," she murmured. I could only agree
and, as I moved steadily in and out of her, I was a bit worried. It'd
been so long I hoped I didn't blast off in half a second. Listening
to the delightful noises Michaela always made during sex-kind of an
alternating series of groans and squeaks, with the odd yelp when I
hit her just right-didn't help me keep under control. I managed
though, helped by the fact that she really *was* very pent up. In
almost no time at all, she yelped and spasmed, gripping my shoulders.
Shortly thereafter I poured myself into her.

"Oh, man," she said, cuddling with me in the aftermath, "I needed
that *so* badly."

"That makes two of us," I grinned.

PART FOUR

Sex is wonderful.  Sex with Ian went right beyond wonderful and
straight into nirvana.  

I cuddled up next to him and rested my head on his chest. I could
hear his heart beating in time with my own as his hand lazily stroked
my hair. This is what I missed; the closeness, the contentment. I
could lay here with Ian forever and to hell with the rest of the
world.  

I sighed and reached down to idly stroke his limp cock. I knew I
would have to tell him about Greg, but not yet. For right now I
wanted to forget the loneliness and enjoy the time we had together.

"Hey, you keep that up and I'm gonna get hard again." 

Ian's cock began to twitch under my fingers, slowly inflating to
half-mast. I turned to grin at him, pressing my breasts against his
chest.

"Oh goody, I was hoping you would."

I licked my lips lasciviously and moved down between his legs. I
took his rapidly inflating cock in my hand and guided it to my mouth,
keeping my eyes locked on his. Slowly I slid him into my warm, wet
mouth, tonguing our combined juices from his glans. Ian hissed as I
slid his cock into my mouth, his eyes glazed over with desire and
lust.

"Michaela, baby, ohshit that feels so good!"

I loved watching his face as I worked over his cock. Sucking him
long and hard, bobbing up and down on his shaft-- I could tell from
the look on his face that he close.  He reached down and tangled his
hands in my long, curly hair and I worked my tongue over his shaft.
His cock went rock hard in my mouth.

"Elllaaaaaa!" 

Ian groaned his pet name for me as he came, spurting hot bursts of
liquid into my mouth. I stroked him with my hand as I swallowed his
load, keeping him coming for as long as possible.  With a satisfied
smile, I cleaned his cock and snuggled up against him again;
delighting in the sight of him limp, drained, and gasping.

"Did you like that, Ian?"  I wasn't above teasing him just a little.

"Minx! C'mere, it's your turn."

A quick glance at the clock told me we didn't have time.

"Can't babe, Lori will back from class any minute now.  We need to
get cleaned up and have some dinner soon if we're going to the party
tonight."

Ian grumbled good-naturedly as I dragged him out of bed and into the
bathroom. After a quick shower, we headed out to dinner with my
roommate Lori and her boyfriend, Chris.  Ian had already met them
both, so dinner was comfortable as we talked and planned the evening.
It was so nice to have Ian next to me, holding my hand, whispering in
my ear.  I couldn't do without this for another two and a half years.
Tomorrow, I thought, we'll talk about it tomorrow.  

Right now, we had a party to attend--a party that I was sure would
include Greg.


PART FIVE

We went to a frat party at a friend of hers' frat house. Though it
was Halloween, costumes were optional--and, since my coming up here
was so last-minute, we didn't bother. That was fine. Lots of other
people didn't bother either, including Michaela's roomie Lori and her
boyfriend Chris. So, it was cool.

It was a good party. Good music, plenty of booze if you wanted it,
lots of people. Michaela introduced me around. We ended up claiming a
loveseat, cuddling one another and sipping on a beer.

Suddenly, this guy I hadn't met before came over. "Hey, Michaela!
Glad you made it after all!"

"Hi, Greg. I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Ian." He looked over,
and shook my hand, but it was plain to me he was *not* happy to meet
Michaela's boyfriend Ian. We exchanged pleasantries for a bit, then
he took off--with remarkable haste, as far as I could tell.

As I said, I'd never met this Greg guy. I'm not sure I liked what I
saw. Not realizing I said it out loud, I muttered, "There goes a
shark if I ever saw one." Michaela heard me.

"What do you mean, a shark? Greg's a nice guy. He's my friend."

"Yup, a shark," I grinned, "and he looked at you as if you were a
particularly tasty piece of bait."

"He did NOT!" she hissed

"Ella, what am I, stupid? Come on. He saw you, and he lit up like a
Christmas tree. You introduced him to *me* and his face fell three
flights of stairs. It was obvious. Hey--don't worry about it. I trust
you completely. I'm not worried or upset. But that guy has the hots
for you something fierce."

That's when she *exploded*. "Well, you know what, Ian? The feeling's
mutual. I love you and I'm not about to cheat on you, but that
'shark' is here and you aren't. He makes me laugh. He keeps me
company when I'm feeling sad. He listens to me ramble on about you
for hours on end. He's been a great friend who's always there when I
need him. If I need you, I have to be a bitch and demand that you
visit me. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

I was absolutely flabbergasted. I just sat there, staring at her,
for a full minute. To be honest, the thing that kept reverberating in
my mind was 'the feeling's mutual.' Damn, damn, damn. But I held that
little tidbit off for a bit.  I tried to keep calm when I finally did
speak. 

"First of all, you don't have a car, so it's my responsibility to
come here all the time, which is a burden on *me*. Second of all, I
am *pre-law* at *Georgetown*! Do you have *any* idea how *hard* that
is? It's not that I don't want to be here more often. It's that I
*can't*, unless you want me to flunk out of school. I have an exam in
International Relations on Tuesday that's going to be a ballbuster. I
*hope* I studied enough for it before I left to come here." I took a
breath. "I do the best I can. Obviously, that's not good enough," I
said sadly.

Her expression softened. "I know you're doing the best you can, Ian,
and I know how hard school is on you.  I'm not saying it's all your
fault.  I could take the bus to Georgetown if I ever had the money
for a ticket. It just isn't in my budget. You're not the only one
with a tough schedule, I'm an engineering major fer chissakes.  I
don't know what the solution is Ian-- I just know we can't survive
another 2 and half years like this."

I took a deep breath. "You mean, *you* can't."

She looked into my eyes and said softly, "You're right. I can't."

 I looked away. I *couldn't* look at her--not when I was seeing all
my hopes, all my dreams, implode in my face. "So, what, Ella? This is
it, then?"
 
"Yes. No. I don't know.  I'm so confused Ian.  I love you, I do--but
I like Greg too. I don't know what I want.  Can we just think about
for now and talk about it again tomorrow?  Maybe we can come up with
some way to save this."

"I don't think so," I said, getting angry. "Do you know who my
closest female friend at school is? Kylie, Brian's girlfriend." Brian
was my roommate. "Kylie keeps me safe. She also thinks that you and I
being faithful to one another is the most romantic thing ever, so she
runs interference for me. Every girl that she comes into contact with
knows I'm taken. If I don't make sure of that, Kylie does." I took a
deep breath. "That's how I handle the separation--by keeping
temptation away. 
*You* cultivate *sharks*." I got up to leave.

"Ian wait!"

I stopped. "Wait for what? To drag this out longer?" I said that,
but I stayed where I was, looking at her.

"If that's the way you feel you might as well go."

"It's *not* the way I feel. The way I feel is I want to run over
there, grab you, and never let go. But I can't help but also feel
that this would just be postponing the inevitable."

"Damn it Ian, I don't want to lose you!  I want to talk about
options and you want to walk out.  If you think you're postponing the
inevitable then it's too late already."

"I guess it's just that I don't see any options. You're here. I'm
there. For two and a half more years. What options do we have?"

"I've been thinking about transferring to Georgetown.  I can get an
engineering degree anywhere but you need to be at Georgetown for law.
I've been thinking about it for a while but things have been so
miserable between us lately, that I didn't think there was any point."

I was absolutely *stunned*. "You'd *do* that? You've wanted to go to
Penn State since you were seven years old!"

"I'd rather have you."

Flabbergasted. I was completely flabbergasted. When we'd had this
argument senior year in high school, she was *adamant* about going to
Penn State. I walked back over to her and took her in my arms. "It's
up to you, but I'd be thrilled." Then I thought of something. "Uhm,
Ella, how are your grades?"

"4.0 - I knew I had to be good to get into Georgetown."

"Uh-huh," I grinned. "Yeah, I think Georgetown would take you with
that."

"Let's get out of here. I think we need some time alone"

"My mother always told me to never argue with a lady carrying a 4.0."

We walked out, arm-in-arm, stopping to get our coats. "You know you
probably won't be able to do this until next year, right?"

"Yeah. A semester and a half is better than two and a half years.
And Thanksgiving's only a month away, then Christmas, so it won't be
so bad. And Spring Break is in the middle of second semester, which
helps."
 
Suddenly she stopped talking. I started to say something, but she
hissed, "SHHHH!"

I looked at her, and realized she was listening to something. I
heard voices coming from around the corner.

"So, that's her boyfriend?" a voice I didn't know asked.

"For the moment," another voice snickered. "Did you hear them going
at it?" That voice I *did* recognize. It was that Greg guy. "That's a
breakup waiting to happen," the voice said.

"And you'll be there to pick up the pieces," the first voice chuckled.

"Yup, and move in for the kill. I've been worming my way into that
girl's affections for two months. Trust me, she's *mine*. As soon as
Ian-boy gets out of the way--which should happen this weekend--I am
in Michaela's pants."

Ella turned to me, a look of absolute *fury* in her eyes. I wasn't
the object of her fury, however. "Darling?" she said. "The next time
you tell me about sharks, remind me to listen to you, OK?"

"Of course," I chuckled. She smiled at me, then spun away from me--
headed around the corner, towards the voices. I followed.

"So," she said to Greg's back. "You're going to get into my pants,
huh?"

Greg spun around, shock on his face. "MICHAELA! I...well...."

"Let me just warn you," she interrupted, "if you plan to do that,
your time is short. You see, I'm transferring. To Georgetown. To be
with the man I love--otherwise known as the *only* man I sleep with.
So, Greg, you've got your work cut out for you. Because, not only am
I going to tell you 'no fucking way,' but *then* I'm *leaving*. I
made my choice. It's a pity that I didn't know what you were *really*
like before this. The choice would've been easier."

She turned to me with an evil grin. "Come on, handsome. Let's go
back to my room so you can fuck my brains out. Again."

I grinned back and, arm in arm, we walked out into the night.

--The end--
