I don't own them, I'm just playing with them, I'm not making any money.

beta'd by me

back up your computer files!

Jim put down the telephone, and just stared at the computer for a long, painful moment. He did everything the Gateway technician had told him to. He had broken it, and now he had fixed it. Well, mostly. He still had several programs to load back on. But at least the computer still worked?

He shoved the chair back, needing a break. Needing a beer or something. His head ached and his shoulders were stiff. He walked to the fridge, opened the door and stared at the contents.

"He's going to kill me." Jim sighed out loud to the fridge. "He's just going to kill me."

He took out a beer, popped the top and took a good long drink.

He looked at the bottle and thought of all the stuff Blair had lost... because of Jim's inadvertent error.

"I was just trying to fix it. I just wanted to play FreeCell." He told the bottle. The bottle offered no sympathy.

"He's going to kill me." He closed his eyes. Blair's never to be published thesis was saved on disk and printed out. That was safe. But there was all his notes on his book, and the rough draft, and the folder full of poetry he had been writing. Jim was positive none of that had been saved.

What about the digital pictures from their last camping trip? And Naomi's wedding pictures? A shudder ran through the big body.

When the phone rang, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He had to force himself to pick up the phone.

"Hi, Jim! Look, I'm going to be a little late, this session ran over, and I still have to stop at the store..." Blair talked like a bullet and Jim just listened. Finally Blair picked up on the silence. Usually Jim tried to interrupt him once or twice. "Is everything okay? Are you okay? Jim-"

"I'm fine." He finally managed to speak.

"What's wrong?" Blair asked again. He knew something was wrong now.

"Just remember... when you get home... just remember that you love me, okay?"

"I would never forget that!" Blair laughed. And then he asked, "Why? What did you do?"

"I'll tell you when you get home." Jim sighed heavily. "And Blair, I'm sorry. I'm just, I'm so sorry."

"You're scaring me, man! What did you do? Is it Carolyn? Or Naomi? It's not my mom, is it?"

"No, no. No one is hurt, no one died. It's just- it's the computer."

"The computer? That's no big deal. We can fix-" Pause. "What did you do?"

"I'll tell you when you get home." Jim closed his eyes, lightly banging his head against the wall. "Remember,-"

"I know. I love you." Blair swallowed, nerves vibrating. "It'll be okay, Jim. I promise."

"I owe you big time. Anything you want, it's yours. Dinner every night-"

"Don't be silly. It's not like you wiped the C drive or anything."

Silence.

"You wiped the C drive?"

"I was trying to re-install FreeCell. The kid at Gateway said we had to do a f-disk, and... and I just did what he said to do." Thump, thump, thump.

"Quit banging your head. It'll be okay. So we lost some pic... pictures. And I didn't back up a few files. It's not the end of the world." Jim could hear Blair's hand rubbing over his face, heart racing.

"I'm sorry, Chief."

"I know, Jim. I know." He heard Blair do a few deep, calming breaths. "You will owe me for this. You said anything, right?"

"Right." And then Jim knew. "Please, Blair..."

"No, you said anything. You trashed my poetry - I was working on an epic about your ass, man! You owe me big time. Two weeks."

"A weekend."

"Two weeks, no whining. Best behavior."

"One week and I don't promise anything about the whining."

"Mom's wedding pictures. The picture of us dancing together. The picture of the fish you caught. MY BOOK NOTES." Blair wasn't about to tell him that he had backed up the book notes. But the pictures were lost to the ether.

"Okay, okay. Two weeks."

"Make the reservations while I'm at the store. You'll love this retreat. Right by the sea. We can stop at Monterey Bay on the way home. This place comes highly recommended. Tony and Greg absolutely loved it."

"Of course they did." Jim stuck out his tongue.

"I heard that." Blair chuckled. "Just think, Jim. Clothing optional. We can go naked for two weeks. All those other guys running around..."

"How about I just commit hari kari before you get home? Huh? That'll be a lot less painful for me."

"You wiped my computer. You owe me."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up."

"Hey, Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember, you love me." Blair laughed softly and the musical sound brought a smile to Jim's lips.

"Remind me when we're at your weird-ass, new age, gay retreat." He thumped his head a couple more times just to reinforce his stupidity.

"You'll enjoy it. I hear they have a great basketball team." He didn't need to see Blair to see the evil smile.

"I do not want to think about a bunch of men playing basketball naked." The image came to mind anyway and he shuddered.

"I'm going to get me a black marker and have someone write 'C Drive' across my ass while we're there." Jim could hear Blair get into his car and start the engine. "Make the reservations, and I'll be home in 30. And Jim, don't touch the computer. I'll reload the software myself."

"Okay." He hung up, and walked over to the coffee table. Blair had left the brochure for the retreat there as a way to subtly harass Jim. When he was asked what was their reason for coming to La Plaza, he replied, "Well, I wiped his C drive..."

"It wasn't backed up?"

"Not completely."

"Oh, man! If you did that to my computer, I'd make you sleep on the couch for a week!"

"Don't give him any ideas."

The young man laughed, and they wrapped up the reservations. Two weeks, honeymoon suite, and Jim went for the gold package which meant he was going to get stuck in more than one touchy-feely relationship workshop. He kept thinking about Naomi's wedding pictures. She who said she would never marry. Blair had given her away... Definitely the gold package.

Then Blair was home, dumping groceries on the counter, tossing his yoga workout bag on the floor, and going to stand in front of his computer. (the computer that Jim had bought him for Christmas)

"You really wiped the C drive?"

"Yep."

"It'll be okay." Blair nodded, holding his hand out to Jim.

"Two weeks, honeymoon suite, gold package. We leave on the 14th." Jim wrapped his arms around Blair, kissing the top of his head. "Look, you get started reloading whatever and I'll make dinner."

"It's my turn."

"I owe you."

"I love you."

"Keep saying that."

"I love you, I love you, I love you..."

<end>

End Remember that you love me! by Mererid: mereridkat@aol.com

Author and story notes above.

Disclaimer: The Sentinel is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount.