CHAPTER 7

People say, "You're not the same old same old." Friends say, "You never change, do you?"

The first thing Jason saw when he stepped into his apartment immediately wiped the smile off his face.

"Dammit Kaine.." Murmured the 24 year-old thespian as he shut the door and walked towards his friend. His hands attempted to clean up the mess but his brain didn't know where to start. Bending on one knee, Jason picked up a scented pink paper and scanned it. Realising what Kaine had be doing, he frowned but simply reached down again to pick up the rest of the stack and placed them on the table. Then he moved on to the crushed cans of beer and threw them into the bin.

Kaine turned in the cushioned arm chair while making a growling sound at the clanking of the cans being tossed into the bin. The man seemed to be absorbed in his dreams and Jason was sparing no effort in keeping him there. He shifted the table noisily, hummed loudly as he hung his coat and even went so far as to give his friend a slap.

"Arrrghhffff..."

Kaine merely flinched and went back into his drunken sleep. Jason sighed and sat on the floor beside the sleeping man. He leaned back on the wall and stared at the ceiling. A smile played at his lips.

Memories were flashing through his mind. Jason turned to his unconscious friend and said, "She kissed me. Or maybe I should say I kissed her. First. I kissed her first. Then she kissed back. AAAAHHHH." He covered his face with his hands and when his face came into view, a bright grin was pasted on.

"I think this might actually work out."

A snore was all he got for a reply. A pretty loud one.

"Y'knw, if she had asked me what the guy with the red hair that was drinking coffee with me that day does for a living? I would have said, "Get depressed, drunk and do it in my house."

Head against the wall, Jason let the fatigue of night creep in and soon, Kaine wasn't the only one snoring away.

The birds seemed to come too early that morning. Jason sat up and rubbed his eyes. The smell of breakfast was the first thing he noticed. Second thing he noticed that it wasn't burnt.

"What is this? Kaine the Chef?"

The man looked down at his mate and raised an eyebrow. "I could eat your share, y'knw."

Jason stood up and used the wall to balance himself. Two porcelain plates laid on the table; each had a slice of toast, a serving of scrambled eggs and two cute little circle pieces of ham. A faint growl could be heard from somewhere in his stomach.

"Well. It's amazing these look good. But maybe it doesn't taste good..." The 24 year old commented, walking towards the dining table. He dragged out a wooden chair and sat down, attacked the eggs first with a spoon and put it in his mouth.

"Are you sure you didn't get this catered?"

Kaine pulled out a chair, turned it the opposite way and sat down. "Les Chef Kaine has improved, no?" He said in an Italian accent that caused Jason to choke on his meal.

"If you're referring to the accent I might have to disagree."

Showing of his lack of dinner table etiquette, Kaine ignored the fork and used his hands to place the ham and eggs on top of the toast. Then he bit of a large piece and chewed.

"I made this as a sign of gratitude." He explained with his mouth full. Small bits of egg and bread were spewed out.

Jason smiled and threw his hands into the air. "FINALLY! Some appreciation!"

"I want to say thanks, for letting me spend nights here getting all depressed and drunk." It was the first time in a long while that Jason had seen Kaine so serious... and sincere. He would admit to farting and burping or trying to smell someone's hair (a habit Jason had never gotten used to. And probably never will) but Kaine had never felt comfortable with talking about his depression. Which is why he had turned to Jason instead of a rehabilitation centre. And also the fact that if a stranger tried to tell Kaine how to better, he would probably bash the guy up.

A few seconds of silence passed. Jason watched Kaine as he crunched into the toast. Then he asked, "I wonder... Why my house? I mean you have a big big house with a maid that cleans up after you."

"Yea, but that takes away the fun of waking up and knowing that you cleaned it all up."

"Oh look, there goes Mr-I-appreciate-my-friend-alot."

Kaine chuckled and gave Jason a reassuring pat on the back, "I'm kiiiding. I guess I like coming here because it's like no one expects a celebrity to live here. Who knows, I could get depressed at my own house and a picture could end up at the front page of a magazine. You know me, I don't believe in bad publicity."

"Sure you don't."

"Yep. You're probably the only therapist I'll ever go to. You don't charge, you know me best, you're not very good but that doesn't really matter does it?"

"What do you mean I'm not very good! I've come up with very good methods to prevent public breakdowns! Remember: If you feel a breakdown coming on, excuse yourself, go to the toilet-"

"- hold back the tears, call you, talk to you for consolation and if I really HAVE to cry, cry in a very high pitched voice so no one recognizes me. If someone suspects, I just tell them I was practising for a movie role." Finished his redhead friend in a slightly bored tone.

Jason nodded proudly but Kaine hadn't finished."It's like telling me to Stop-Drop-and Roll if I catch fire and as much as that sounds fun, it doesn't really happen. So don't delusion yourself with "'I've saved you from many public breakdowns!'"

Merely pouting, Jason tried to look as teary-eyed as he could. "Now, you're just being plain mean."

"FIIINE. How immature can you get? Oh great Jason Hardislaye, without you may I fall into ultimate insanity and grow warts."

"Yes you may." Said Jason, laughing. Then he shrugged, "It's not my fault you get caught up in the fact that you've never found true love and then get all depressed and-"

"SHHH! You're not supposed to talk about my depression when I'm sober!"

"Oh you're sober now?"

"If I'm not calling you 'Jasmin' and trying to make out with you, then yes, I am sober."

"Well, you can't stop being depressed if you don't face it."

Kaine finished his last piece of toast and stared at his friend. "What, so we talk about it?"

"Yea. We talk about it. Try to find a solution. You get depressed because you can't find true love."

Kaine frowned. "I may die alone and unmarried."

"Yes you might. So all you have to do is stop doing the whole one night thing with girls and start trying to get a serious relationship! I mean, the longest relationship was what, how long? 3 days?"

The 26year-old coughed. "FOUR." He corrected.

"Yes, four! You might attract alot of girls with your charm and whatever but it's one girl for one night and then another girl for the next. You gotta change you're attitude!"

"You mean... stick to one girl?"

"Yea. Pick up someone if you will, but I advice that you go with someone who you HAVEN'T dated but you know her. Go out with her on the first date, bring her home, say goodnight, kiss if you want to then go back. If she wants a second date then agree. If she doesn't ask but you want a second date, ask. Don't force. Then go on many other dates and from there a relationship forms! TADA!"

"Stick with one? ONE?"

"Yes."

"But one... ONE! Jason! I can't do that. You can, you goody-two-shoes-look-at-me-I-am-a-man-with-commitment person you, but I can't."

"Then you gotta learn!"

"Fine then. Some advice?"

Jason laughed. It was usually Kaine who was giving the advice. Now it was Jason's turn. He felt smart. "Use your charm and flowers or whatever you use for your normal dates. But this time, go for a girl who you actually like. When I mean A GIRL YOU LIKE I don't mean her body or whatever your pervert mind goes after. I mean her personality."

"Of course! I go for girls with good personality."

"No you don't."

"Okay. Monica. Why do you go for her? I'm really trying not to sound mean here but I can't help but say that she has probably one of the most rotten attitudes... and her personality is as bland as your cooking."

"My cooking isn't that bad."

"AH! You admit she's all...blah! So why Monica?"

"Because.... because..."

It was Jason's turn to finish his breakfast; He took his friend's empty plate and placed it on top of his but did this with eyes always on Kaine.

"Jason, dude, some thing's are left a mystery."

Jason's eyebrows dipped. He looked at Kaine with a questioning gaze and when he merely got a cheeky grin back, he rolled his blue eyes and walked to the sink, taking the plates with him.

"Alright, alright. Get a girl that I like because of her personality and not because of how so darn sexy she is. And try to stick with her. That's gonna be tough."

"No it's not."

"Not for you. I mean come on! We go to all those glamorous events, we see Hollywood women and you're telling me that while you're dating some girl you don't look at other woman's bosoms?" Kaine emphasized the last word with an English accent that made his friend drop the plate and sponge and burst out laughing.

"Say that again!"

"Bosoms?" He repeated.

This time, Jason's laugh was more high pitched. He bent over and banged on the table repeatedly.

"Seriously Jason, it's not that funny."

"Right-" Jason stood up and tried to compose himself but his face stayed red. He turned back to the plate and started soaping it again. "- what were you asking? Oh yea. Yea well, when I do see really big bosoms I kind of look at my girl.... and her's seem to have grown bigger."

The answer made Kaine squint accusingly. "You have one very weird and disturbed mind..."

Jason placed the clean plate on the dish rack; He gave his hands a rinse then walked back to the dining table and sat down. "Yea whatever. I'm not the kind of guy that would ogle at another woman when I'm already committed to someone. And you should try doing that too."

Kaine fingered the glass table top and looked down, uncertain. "I don't know. I guess I can try."

"Yea. For starters, I think you date a girl that you know."

"That's easy!"

"A girl that you know but isn't one that you've actually went out with once."

"Okay. Maybe not so easy."