The Kingswood Complication - Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Friday 7 October 2022

“Forget HOW it got stuck. The question really is why he even put it up there in the first place!” Mr Ives said with a bemused headshake, getting gentle chuckles from the other men sitting around in the Headmaster’s Study.

“Oh I think we all know the answer to that!” Dr Arkwright said with a knowing nod that got a couple more smirks.

There was a knock at the door, which swung open as Mr Rudd hurried in to heart the end of the jovial conversation.

“Ah, Max, good morning,” Mr Everett, the Headmaster stated with solemn nod.

“Sorry I’m late,” Mr Rudd apologised to the small gathering as he hurried to take one of the empty seats.

The Friday morning meeting was a permanent fixture in the diaries of the six men, intended as a regular catch-up on the general wellbeing of the student body. Mr Trystan Everett, the Headmaster, always chaired the meeting and was, as always, accompanied by the Deputy Headmaster, Mr Norman Reeves. Dr Arkwright usually attended, to offer any appropriate insight into physical and mental health issues affecting the student population. The other three men at the meeting were those tasked with supervising the day-to-day lives of the boys as ‘Floor Masters’ of the three residential floors of the Home Building – Mr Levi Trent, who oversaw the Year 7, 8 and 9s on the first floor, Mr Maxwell Rudd, who had started as second floor Master at the start of year in charge of the Year 10 and 11s and finally Mr Benjamin Ives, the third floor supervisor of the eldest students at the school, Years 12 and 13.

The meetings were always treated with the utmost significance and respect, despite the regular levity of the subject, but the atmosphere in the room today certainly conveyed the seriousness of the week.

“How you doing today, Max?” Mr Ives asked with a sympathetic head tilt.

Mr Rudd suppressed a scowl as he said firmly, “I’m fine, thanks!”

“Then let’s get started, shall we,” Mr Everett suggested casually.

Despite the elephant in the room, the meeting progressed as normal, with the usual agenda items covered briefly but succinctly as the six men discussed the lives of the students under their care. Finally, after speeding through maintenance issues in the Home Building, an update on the latest nutritional plans, discussions about the Southern Counties Inter-School Partnership Scheme (SCIPS) and arrangements for the Halloween Party later in the month, they came to the two words that had probably been spoken more in that week than ever before – Josh Williams!

“So,” Mr Everett said cautiously, glancing around his study, “Would anyone like to start?”

Silence lingered for a moment before Dr Arkwright cleared his throat and said, “I can begin with the medical side of things.” Getting a nod of agreement from the others, he took a deep breath and began, “Between the funds released from the Kingswood Emergency Medical Budget and the rather sizeable donations made, the facility for Josh’s treatment is now fully up and running. It’s certainly a boost to him to be able to remain at Kingswood as his treatment has gotten started.”

“Levi,” Mr Everett interrupted, looking to Mr Trent, “I know they asked to remain anonymous, so we obviously won’t acknowledge it publicly, but please ask Blane to pass on our very sincere thanks from all of us to his family for the funding and equipment their foundation has provided!”

Levi smiled silently and nodded. The faculty had been advised of Josh’s diagnosis the day he got it, a necessity to help prepare them in supporting the students, but it had led to an unexpected but very welcome development. A single telephone call by Blane to his parents explaining the issue and they had arranged everything. Specialist equipment was shipped to the school to create a facility where Josh could undertake his therapy, whilst staying close to the ones he loved. Medical staff to administer and oversee treatments and maintain his care during, after and in between treatments. Every part of Josh’s care arranged and delivered in a matter of days, and at no small cost either.

Dr Arkwright offered a thankful nod to Mr Trent too, then went on, “Josh is now entering day five of his first cycle of chemotherapy. Obviously, there’s still a really long way to go, even if he responds well to this, but he’s off to a good start. The staff for the facility are fully settled in and at this stage Josh’s care is entirely in their hands.” He sounded a little uneasy, primarily because he was used to being the primary physician to the boys at the school. It was one of the few times any of his colleagues had actually seen his composure even showing hints of a crack.

“And how is Josh doing? I would visit myself, but the Headmaster showing up unannounced is probably not the sort of stress he needs right now,” Mr Everett said with a gentle nod.

“He’s…” Dr Arkwright paused, frowning for a moment, “…actually in surprisingly good spirits, all things considered. Though I’m perhaps not the best person to give any real insight on that!” Dr Arkwright’s gaze turned to Mr Rudd, prompting the others to do the same.

Mr Rudd nodded and, surprisingly, a broad grin spread across his face. “Good spirits is a fair way to put it,” he said with a gentle head bob. “I’m not sure if it’s made its way to other faculty members, but earlier this week Josh released… well, I don’t know what you’d call it. It’s part manifesto, part list of demands and entirely… Josh!” He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone as he asked the others, “May I?”

“Go ahead,” Mr Everett said, looking at the other man curiously.

“I’m going to quote this word for word, so forgive the… colourful language!” Mr Rudd smirked as he started to read. “Alright losers, Josh here. So you’ve probably heard by now that I’ve got cancer. I know, some of us have all the luck, right! Anyway, I just wanted to cover some ground rules up front. Rule one, nobody’s shaving their fucking head. I’m told the chances are I’m gonna end up losing my hair and I’ve already seen all these lovely, supportive sickeningly sweet videos online of family members and schoolmates shaving their heads and I ain’t having none of that! I could say it’s because this is Kingswood and I know nobody’s gonna be taking the piss outta me for being a slaphead anyway, but honestly most of you are already ugly fuckers without being baldies too, so… don’t even think about it!”

“Oh sweet lord,” Mr Ives laughed, shaking his head.

“Rule B,” Mr Rudd went on, then paused again to look round as he added, “Yes, he went from rule one to rule B!” He shook his head in bemusement as he continued reading. “No get well soon cards. They’re stupid and pointless and a waste of paper. I’m already planning on getting well soon, and it won’t be cos of cards, it’ll be cos of drugs, so maybe send drugs!! Actually, don’t do that. Drugs are bad… except the good drugs, which are good! Where was I? Oh yeah, don’t send cards! Anyone who does, gets a kick in the nuts!”

Mr Trent chuckled along with his colleagues and said cheerily, “I know you’re the one reading it, but I’m totally hearing it in Josh’s voice!”

“Rule 3,” Mr Rudd continued, shaking his head at the mismatched numbering again, “I’m still here, and I’m likely to be here the whole time unless things really go to shit, and as much as possible I’m gonna be going about things normally. Conversation doesn’t stop when I enter the room and you don’t need to be careful what you say around me. I’m still me, just with weird shit in my blood. Start acting weird around me and it’s a punch to the bollocks for ya!”

“He certainly has a way with words,” Mr Everett said with an amused headshake.

“And last, no fucking moping. Cancer sucks, chemo sucks and sometimes life sucks, but Kingswood doesn’t. We’re the best school in the world cos we’re happy. Even cancer can’t change that. And just for good measure, anyone moping gets a kick AND a punch to the balls! Take care, Josh,” Mr Rudd finished.

“Well it was certainly more violent than I was expecting,” Dr Arkwright said with a nod.

“Honestly,” Mr Rudd said, putting down his phone, his eyes going with it as he avoided eye contact with the other men, “I just think the situation hasn’t fully sunk in yet for him and when it does…” He stopped, shook his head and let out a gentle sigh.

The room was silent for a moment before Mr Everett asked, “So how are the rest of the boys handling it?”

Dr Arkwright nodded thoughtfully for a moment and explained, “A few of the boys have come to me asking details about leukaemia and about chemotherapy, obviously worried but looking to understand things better. There’s been a LOT of hits in the digital library on the material provided there, so the boys are absolutely educating themselves on it, which is certainly to be applauded.” He paused a moment as he thought once again. “In general, it mostly seems to be a case of shock and uncertainty,” he explained.

“I can certainly sympathise,” Mr Everett said with an agreeable nod. He glanced to Mr Rudd briefly, but skipped over him to flick his gaze between Mr Ives and Mr Trent. “How are things at either end?” he asked openly, referring to the older students of the third floor and the younger students of the first floor respectively. “I imagine the mentors AND mentees are taking it harder than many!” he mused.

“Richard’s handling it surprisingly well,” Mr Ives nodded, referring to Richard ‘Dick’ Payne, Josh’s mentor. “His friends are really there for each other, which has been lovely to see, plus it’s hardly the first time they’ve had things to worry about with Josh and his dorm buddies!”

Mr Everett sat back in his chair and nodded gently as he said, “Indeed!” before looking to the other man. “And the year sevens?” he asked curiously.

Mr Trent’s sighed, his usual reaction when talking about the latest Year 7 group. “Awful as this is to say, and I hope it doesn’t upset anyone,” he said, looking a little awkwardly at Mr Rudd, “But it’s actually proven a little… beneficial.” Getting a bunch of curious looks, he elaborated, “Milo was devastated when he heard the news, but the issues the boys have been struggling with seem to have been put aside, maybe just for now, maybe for good, it’s too early to tell, but this certainly seems to have brought out the best in them!”

“Well that’s the Kingswood way!” Mr Everett said before smiling proudly, though it slowly dropped as he asked, “And the year tens?”

Mr Rudd’s brow furrowed heavily. While his main concern had obviously been Josh over the past week, he knew he had sixty-three other boys in his charge. “In general, they’re… getting by,” he explained, “But his more immediate friend group… I think it’s a little too soon to tell.”

Silence lingered in the room again.

“If there’s one group in this school that has the resilience to get through something like this, it’s them!” Mr Everett stated confidently.

“You’re right,” Mr Trent agreed. Of the six men gathered, he certainly knew the boys the best, having been in charge of them for the past three years. He smiled at the Headmaster’s comment, but as it slowly faded away he mused aloud, “I just… don’t know how much more they can take!”

*****

“Oh no ya don’t!” Jazz called out as he grabbed Rob’s arm. They had just finished Biology, their last class of the morning, and walked back Home with David and Adrian following casually behind. As they got inside the building, the group had headed the same way as all of the other students, towards the Dining Hall, but Rob had tried to veer off in a different direction.

“I just wanna go check on Josh!” Rob insisted, holding his ground for a moment despite his boyfriend tugging on his arm.

“Nope, sorry,” David said as he approached from behind. He grabbed Rob’s other arm and, with Jazz’s help, managed to urge him on towards the Dining Hall with a gentle nudge from Adrian.

“It’ll just be quick,” Rob objected.

“First you get food, then you go see Josh!” Jazz insisted.

The beginning of the week had been tough for all the Year 10 boys, but none more-so than Rob who had spent every available waking hour (and all of his sleeping ones!) at his best friend’s side. By Thursday, his friends had been forced to step in when they realised Rob was neglecting his own self-care to obsess over Josh, something they had fully expected and prepared for.

Rob had not been happy about being dragged away from his best friend, even if it was for things like eating and showering, but he had quickly learned that the rest of his Year weren’t going to give him any say in it. Any time they forced Rob away, one of them would step in to keep Josh company instead. “I’m not hungry!” Rob objected again, now at the entrance to the Dining Hall.

“No, what you mean is you’d rather check on Josh than eat, that’s not the same as not being hungry, so stop resisting and just take a break!” Jazz said firmly. “Besides, you don’t wanna keep him waiting!” he added, pointing across the hall.

Rob looked round in the direction Jazz was pointing and saw Luke grinning and waving back at them both. His shoulders relaxed a little and he finally took a willing step forward as the queue moved, allowing the others to let him go. As much as he still wanted to get to Josh as quickly as possible, the thought of lunch with both of his boyfriends was a very welcome one. A few minutes later, they had worked their way down the queue, grabbed their lunch and headed over to join Luke at his table, both giving him a brief kiss before sitting.

“And how are my beautiful boyfriends doing today?” Luke asked cheerfully. He got an immediate frown from Rob. “Aside from THAT, I mean!” he added with a gentle sigh.

Rob chuckled slightly, then shrugged and said, “Not too bad then! Aside from this wanker forcing me to, y’know… actually eat!”

“You monster!” Luke said to Jazz with a wry grin, getting a giggle in return.

“I… uh… I’m sorry,” Rob said timidly, “About standing you both up last night!” He pursed his lips as his gaze flicked between the two other teens. The throuple had various standing arrangements throughout the week – Rob and Jazz did things together Tuesday evenings, Rob and Luke did things together Saturday mornings, Luke and Jazz got together Saturday afternoons and all three of them had a standing date on Thursday evenings. Last night, Rob had been a no-show.

“Yeah, we talked about that,” Luke said sternly, “And we decided we needed to tell you something. It’s… kinda why we made sure we got you alone today!”

“Well that’s… unnecessarily ominous,” Rob said, smirking uncomfortably as he worried he was about to get bad news.

“Date night is sacred!” Jazz said firmly, “We said at the start of term we put each other first. Date night is the most important part of our week together!”

“I know, it’s just…” Rob started, but was cut off as Luke raised his hand.

“But things change!” Luke said, lowering his hand as Rob nodded. “And if you think spending time with your friend is more important than date night…” He paused as Rob just stared at him. Eventually he smiled and finished, “… you would be ABSOLUTELY right!”

“What!?” Rob exclaimed, mildly confused.

“Rob, hun, seriously,” Jazz said, reaching out to place his hand on Rob’s. “You don’t need to apologise. Yeah, we’re gonna make sure you’re not killing yourself, but date night… it can fucking wait. Some things are WAY more important!”

“Really?” Rob asked, exhaling heavily.

“Fuck yes!” Luke exclaimed. “You do whatever it is you need to do. If that means we see less of you… then that’s fine, it just makes us appreciate the time we DO have with you even more!”

“So you’re not pissed at me?” Rob asked with visible relief.

“Of course not. We love you, babe,” Jazz reassured him. “We ain’t going anywhere. That’s a promise!”

Rob felt tears well up for a moment but held it back, largely because he was holding a lot in and letting any of it out now would likely open the floodgates and sobbing helplessly in such a public place was not exactly desirable. “I love you too. Both of you!” he said happily.

*****

<<Everybody’s looking at you. Just say what I say! Wǒ jīntiān de dì yī jié kè shì tǐyù kè.>>

“Wǒ jīntiān de dì yī jié kè shì tǐyù kè,” Mikey said confidently.

“Very good, Mikey!” Mr Cho nodded.

<<Keep going! Soshite sonogo wa nihongodeshita.>>

“Soshite sonogo wa nihongodeshita,” Mikey continued.

“Good to know, but wrong class, Mikey!” Mr Cho said with a smile at the sudden switch from Mandarin to Japanese.

The other boys in class laughed. This was really nothing new for the boys who had shared any language classes with Mikey during Years 7 to 9. He seemed to have a natural aptitude for languages and could slip between them easily, sometimes even unknowingly. Previously it had been French and German, but since choosing both Japanese and Mandarin for his GCSEs, he had started to do it between those two languages too.

<<They’re laughing at you! Punch them!>>

Mikey chuckled and shrugged, playing it off as an intentional stunt.

<<Ugh, you suck. Stop playing nice. It won’t help!>>

“And what was your last class before lunch today…” Mr Cho started, looking round the room to pick the next volunteer. “David?” he requested as he his gaze settled on the boy.

“Umm…” David hummed for a moment then said with virtually no confidence, “Shēngwù xué.”

Mr Cho nodded gently and said, “Correct, but in a sentence please!”

<<Wǒ zǎoshang de zuìhòu yī jié kè shì shēngwù>>

“Umm… umm…” David hemmed and hawed for a few moments.

<<COME ON. YOU KNOW IT! Wǒ zǎoshang de zuìhòu yī jié kè shì shēngwù.>>

“Wǒ zǎoshang…” Mikey whispered quietly to David.

“Oh, Wǒ zǎoshang de zuìhòu yī jié kè shì shēngwù!” David declared excitedly.

“Well done,” Mr Cho nodded. “Both of you,” he added with a wry grin before moving on.

<<FUCKIN’ LOSER! You shoulda just said the answer to Mr Cho!>>

“Thanks,” David whispered. “How do…”

Mikey raised his hand slightly to silence David then nodded to his laptop.

David got the message and rather than talking, discreetly typed out, [How do you remember it all so quickly? Do you use like mnemonics or something?]

<<Mnemonics? The fucking audacity. Punch the little fucker!>>

[No! I don’t do drugs!] Mikey typed back.

[That’s not drugs. They’re ways of helping remember stuff!! LOL]

<<Fuck him, I knew that!>>

[I know. Kidding, LOLZ] Mikey replied.

<<Lame save. Lemme control the eyes so I can roll them at you!>>

[So how do you do it?] David typed.

<<Me! I do it! I do everything! EVERYTHING!>>

<<We tell you what to say and you take the fucking credit, you scumbag!>>

<<David’s cute when he’s confused, isn’t he!>>

Mikey winced a little for a moment, then typed out a reply, [Just good at it!] He gave David a shrug as he glanced round at him.

<<Wow, stealing credit for my work. You’re absolute garbage! But I guess it’s hardly the worst thing you’ve done recently, is it?>>

Mikey shrunk back in his seat, staring down at his thumb as he picked at the nail with his other hand.

<<You could always confess! Admit what you did! They’re all gonna hate you eventually when they find out. May as well just get on with it!>>

Mikey sunk a little further down in his seat.

<<Don’t be too hard on yourself. You knew this wouldn’t last. They could only pretend to actually like you for so long before you fucked up enough to make them give up on you and hate you and beat you with sticks and hate you!>>

“Anyone?” Mr Cho asked, looking round the room as the question he asked had gone unanswered. “Mikey?” he asked optimistically.

<<Cào nǐ mā>>

Mikey hadn’t been paying attention and reacted on pure instinct as blurted out, “Cào nǐ mā!”

Mr Cho stared at Mikey with an anger few of the class had ever seen from the teacher before. “That is NOT appropriate, Michael,” he said furiously, “Detention, tonight!”

<<Ha! Fucking loser! That’ll teach ya!>>

*****

Danny looked round the dorm with a wistful smile. Dorm 1.01. It had been his first home at Kingswood and while every dorm he had since shared with his friends was always a great place to be, he could never shake the feeling of belonging to the first dorm.

Many Kingswood boys described going back into their old dorms like stepping into an alternate universe, one where things are the same, only slightly different, and that had become especially true since The Explosion. While the upper two floors of the building had been redesigned and refurbished as part of the repair works, the first floor had largely just been put back the way it was. “Why change perfection?” one of the boys had said jokingly.

The layout of the dorm was the same as it had been when Danny lived there. Sure, the furniture was new, and the walls were a different colour, but at its core it was still the same old dorm 1.01. He had taken a seat on the sofas, looking reflectively around the dorm as Avery changed out of his school uniform.

He thought about his first night at Kingswood, sitting on those sofas and getting to know each other, the beginning of so many wonderful friendships. He glanced at his old bunk, and the one beside it, and the gap between them that he and Chris had scaled so often to share a bunk together. Then there was the bunk on the other side, the one that Josh had unknowingly thrown himself off as a result of the night terrors after his suicide attempt. It was there that his gaze lingered the longest, sighing softly as he thought about Josh.

“Is Josh going to be okay?” Avery asked, shaking Danny from his thoughts as he saw the boy standing at his side.

Danny stared back blankly for a moment. How could he answer that? How could he know? The concern from the entire school had been truly touching, but it was only in the last week that they began to discover just how much time Josh had spent in dorm 1.01 throughout the start of the term. While Danny and the others had been stressing over mediating the arguments and fights, it seemed Josh had just been making friends with the younger boys instead. Determined to be the best mentor he could for Milo, he had really taken the time to help the younger boy settle in, and in doing so, made friends with the rest of the new dorm 1.01. Danny took a breath and nodded as he answered as honestly as he could, “I hope so!”

Avery nodded gently as he sat down and replied, “Me too!” Silence lingered for a moment before Avery frowned a little and said, “Young people shouldn’t die!”

Danny recoiled slightly from the comment, unsure how to respond.

“Sorry, I wasn’t saying… umm… that… he is. I just…” Avery stuttered awkwardly.

Danny smirked slightly. Avery was absolutely a boy of two halves. One was the tough, moody, slightly abrasive side that made him come across older than his actual age. The other was the nervous, quiet, introspective side that Danny had rarely seen. While it was hard to be sure, Danny suspected the more sensitive side was the much truer version of Avery. “It’s okay,” he reassured him with a gentle nod.

“I just meant dying’s meant to be an old person thing!” Avery stated, getting his thoughts together. “You grow up, you get old, you get sick with like, cancer or heart stuff and you die. Young people should become old people!”

“You’re not wrong,” Danny nodded.

“But sometimes young people do die!” Avery said bluntly.

Danny found his gaze drawn across the room again, this time to the bunk that had belonged to Nicky – an identical twin with no siblings! He just found himself nodding at Avery for a moment until a thought occurred to him. “Do you… or… did you… lose someone?” he asked softly.

Avery didn’t respond beyond a slight frown.

Danny took a breath and exhaled slowly before he offered, “You can talk about it if you want to!”

“I don’t!” Avery replied, not in his usual blunt tone, but rather more softly with an accepting nod.

“Okay,” Danny smiled. “So tell me about your week,” he said, his usual start to their weekly meetings.

The two boys chatted away for a while about Avery’s week. Danny really appreciated the casual conversation. They weren’t discussing great tragedies or discussing life-changing concerns, they were just two boys, discussing their week at school and it felt… nice! Not just because of the momentary distraction, but because it finally felt like the he was beginning to bond with his mentee the way he had always hoped he would.

Danny glanced at the clock, noting that Study Hour was rapidly passing them by. Soon, more people would begin to head back Home from the School Building. “Come on,” he said, standing up, “Let’s go get you showered while the shower room’s still empty.”

“Okay,” Avery said, grateful of the consideration of his privacy.

After heading down the hall, with a polite greeting to Mr Trent as they passed him, they went into the shower room where Avery didn’t waste any time in removing his clothes.

As Danny pulled the key from his pocket and squatted down to unlock the chastity device, Avery said quietly, “If you… want to test me this week… you can!” As Danny looked up at him curiously, he added, “I know you like sex stuff a lot and I thought it might cheer you up a bit!”

Danny chuckled as he resumed removing the device and said, “That’s very sweet!” He smirked as he continued, “But are you sure you just don’t WANT me to do it for you?” So far, Avery had pleasured himself once during one of the weekly unlocks, while Danny had done it for him once too.

Danny had found it strange to touch the younger boy, and stranger still to hold such a small, undeveloped penis. While he was definitely growing fonder of the boy as the weeks passed, he had never really had any sexual interest in anyone younger than himself and that didn’t seem to be changing for Avery. He couldn’t deny it was nice seeing the pleasure on the younger boy’s face the previous week when he had done it, and just seeing any sexual activity was inherently exciting, but he never looked at the boy and just got aroused from seeing him.

“Maybe,” Avery blushed as he stepped out of the device and moved to a shower head to start cleaning off.

Danny remained silent as he stood back and let the boy wash, though by the time he was done, Avery’s small dick was standing fully to attention. Making slightly awkward eye contact, Danny just silently raised his eyebrows.

“I’d… like you to do it,” Avery admitted. “If you’re okay with that,” he added in a quiet mumble.

“Sure,” Danny chuckled. He quickly pulled off his own clothes, having learned previously that no matter how much you tried to stay clear, wanking off a showering boy was always going to get you wet! Moments later, his uniform was removed and added to the pile of Avery’s clothes. He stepped closer and stuck his head under the spray, then pulled back to shake the excess off his hair and looked down at the shorter boy.

“Can I… touch you too?” Avery asked timidly.

It was another step forward, quite a big one actually. One of a mentor’s duties was teaching the younger boys everything they might need to know about sex and relationships – some choosing to teach with a more hands-on approach than others. So far, Danny knew very little of Avery’s experience or how much he had to teach him. “You don’t have to,” Danny insisted. “But I’m okay with that… if you’d like to do it!” he said, twisting Avery’s own wording slightly.

Avery nodded and immediately reached out to grab Danny’s dick.

Danny let out a gentle grunt. It had not been the most sexual week, the atmosphere in the dorm had seen to that. The boy’s hand felt good and he immediately began to erect as he reached down to grasp Avery’s boner between a thumb and forefinger. Danny had mentally prepared himself to give the boy instructions, to guide him on the best technique, but it appeared that wasn’t necessary. Danny wasn’t sure whether this was an indication of his experience, or of the boy was simply just naturally good at it. “That feels good,” he reassured the boy.

“Yeah, that too,” Avery said, glancing down at the hand stroking quickly at his dick. After a few more moments, and looking a little embarrassed, Avery whimpered, “I’m already close!”

“Okay,” Danny said softly.

“Do I… get more… than one this week?” Avery asked breathlessly.

“More than one… what?” Danny frowned.

“This!” Avery said, nodding down to his dick.

Danny frowned. “I’ll have to lock you back up when we’re done til next week!” he explained.

“I meant… before you lock… just… make me cum… more than once!” Avery said, clearly on the brink of orgasm.

“I don’t understand,” Danny frowned.

“Ah, I’m cumming!” Avery gasped as the small penis throbbed in Danny’s grasp. “Just… keep going!” he quickly added.

Danny still looked confused. “What? But isn’t it…”

“Just keep going!” Avery insisted, his hand dropping away from Danny’s dick as his own orgasm ended and Danny continued wanking him.

“Doesn’t this… hurt?” Danny asked with obvious concern, remembering how torturous it felt any time he kept going too long (or the time it had been done against his will!)

“No, it’s… ah… yeah…” Avery gasped, reaching out to steady himself against the wall. “Oh god… it’s going!”

Danny felt the little prick twitching once again, the boy experiencing his second orgasm in as many minutes. Staring at Avery in wide-eyed shock (and a touch of jealousy) he continued stroking, waiting for the boy to stop him, but no objection came.

“Yeah. Ah yeah, keep going!” Avery panted, turning a little to lean against the wall as Danny kept masturbating his post-orgasmic dick.

Comfortable that Avery was enjoying the prolonged stimulation rather than suffering, Danny stood by his side and continued pleasuring him. A third orgasm soon followed, with a fourth a minute later, and a fifth… and a sixth!

Avery finally pulled his hips back from Danny’s hand and said shakily, “Okay, that’s enough!”

“Yeah, I’ll bet!” Danny said in genuine shock, his cock positively throbbing at the sights and sounds of the multiple orgasms. Staring at the red-faced, panting and slightly shell-shocked boy, he reached out to run his fingers through his wet hair and asked, “You okay?”

Avery continued panting for a few seconds, then let his head loll to the side to look up at Danny as he said, “Yeah, that was… awesome! I usually only… do five myself… before my arm cramps!”

“That’s normal for you?” Danny asked in surprise.

Avery nodded with a grin.

“Wow, you are just FULL of surprises, aren’t you!” Danny chuckled.

Avery grinned then dropped to his knees and took Danny’s dick into his mouth.

“Ahh fuck!” Danny gasped, surprised by the sudden mouth around his straining erection. While his dick had not been touched while he gave Avery his multiple orgasms, the pleasured moans and orgasmic throbbing had been surprisingly exciting and he could already feel himself heading towards his own (single) orgasm.

Avery pulled off and looked up as he said quickly, “Tell me when. I don’t like swallowing!” then returned to sucking.

The comment was yet another hint towards the boy’s experience, though the expert pleasure he was inflicting already made clear this was not the first cock he had sucked. “Ah, fuck! he gasped after couple more minutes, “I’m gonna cum!”

Avery pulled off and shifted to the side as he stroked Danny to completion, grinning proudly as the hefty cock spurted its load onto the floor, quickly washing away down the drain with the flowing water. “That was fun!” he said casually as he turned off the shower and grabbed his towel.

“Yeah,” Danny chuckled contentedly, “It really was!”

*****

Mark glanced over at the bed as he saw Josh stir and watched as his eyes wearily opened.

“You’re not Rob!” Josh croaked, then coughed to clear his throat.

“Sharp as ever,” Mark said with a smirk as he leaned forward to offer Josh some water. “I kicked him out to go to sign language!”

Josh took the water and sipped it, wincing a little. He handed the glass back to Mark and sat up in bed, smiling. “Good!” Josh said with a nod. “He’s really starting to piss me off hanging around so much!” he said with an eye roll.

“No, he’s not!” Mark disagreed with a gentle smile.

“No, he’s not,” Josh agreed, shaking his head. “I love him and he’s amazing and shut up, I never said that!” he said shyly.

“Never said what?” Mark replied, turning his smile into a full grin. “So how you feeling today?” he asked with a sympathetic head tilt.

“Pissed off!” Josh scowled. “You know they’re not letting me attend classes, even virtually!” he harumphed.

“Oh… no, how awful!?” Mark replied with a thoroughly confused head shake.

“It is!” Josh insisted. “I don’t wanna fall behind cos of this shit!” he said, gesturing to his central line.

“Grand scheme of things, I think it’s okay to miss a few classes!” Mark said, still mildly confused.

“Not for me!” Josh said bitterly. “Ugh, you don’t get it. You’re too new!” As soon as he said it, he pursed his lips but winced again, sores in his mouth being one of the first chemo side effects that had afflicted him. “Sorry, that came out WAY bitchier than I meant it!”

“S’okay,” Mark said with a shrug. “But if I’m too new then… explain it to me!” he requested diplomatically.

Josh huffed a little, but shuffled round a little to get more comfortable. He got into another position but still looked uncomfortable. He let out a non-descript grunt and held his arms out towards Mark.

Mark chuckled a little but understood the gesture and stood up to move onto the bed. Sitting beside Josh, he slipped an arm around him as the much smaller boy nestled against his side. “Better?” he asked softly.

“Much!” Josh said happily, his cheek against Mark’s chest as an arm casually draped over his lap. “So I kinda sucked in year seven, at classes I mean,” he started, getting quite verbal nod in response. “But in my end-of-year report, they all just kinda let me off cos it was like… ‘Oh, Josh had a tough year cos his brothers are cunts!’” He paused to look up briefly and added, “Not their exact words, obviously!”

“Obviously!” Mark agreed with a smirk.

“So when it came to year eight, I got a bunch of the others to tutor me and by the end of year nine, I was actually doing pretty fucking good!” Josh explained. “I wanna do that good in my GCSEs too, but I have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to do half as well, and that means every day I miss is equal to…” He paused to do some mental arithmetic. “Like… weeks!” he said, giving up on working it out.

Mark’s eyes narrowed as he said with a wry grin, “Maths clearly isn’t one of the subjects you’re doing well at!”

“Shut up, you know what I mean!” Josh pouted, “I don’t wanna end up with shit grades when I worked so hard to get where I am!”

“Are grades really what you should be worrying about now?” Mark asked cautiously.

“Yes!” Josh said bluntly. “I can’t do most the shit I actually enjoy cos I feel so shitty and weak and painful, so the least they can do is let me use my fucking brain!”

“I just mean… shouldn’t you be more focused on… you know…” Mark said awkwardly.

“The cancer!” Josh stated. “It’s okay to say it! And no, I don’t need to focus on that. The drugs’ll do their stuff, I’ll get better and I’ll be back to normal. I don’t want months of homework to worry about when that happens!”

Mark chuckled for a moment and gave Josh a very gentle squeeze. “I love your positivity. It always makes me smile!” he said contentedly.

“Good. I like making people smile,” Josh replied dozily. “Now, tell me what I missed today!” he requested.

“Not much to tell,” Mark replied, “We played football in PE and Chris faked an injury to get off the pitch, but then forgot which leg he was meant to be limping on and Mr Smith made him run laps!”

Josh chuckled gently.

“Oh, and Mikey got detention tonight for saying something bad to Mr Cho!” Mark explained, having heard the story over dinner.

“What did he say?” Josh asked curiously.

“That’s the thing. Nobody knows. It was in Chinese! But apparently Mr Cho was PISSED!” Mark continued.

“Has Mikey… said anything about coming to see me?” Josh asked downheartedly. So far, everyone else in the dorm had been to see him, along with most of Year 10, but Mikey remained absent.

Mark frowned a little but forced a smile as Josh looked up at him. There had been a few squabbles in the dorm, with emotions running high, and Mikey had been involved in a few of them, usually when he refused to take his turn for relieving Rob of guard duty. All attempts to talk to him about the subject had failed miserably. “He’s just been busy,” Mark lied, “Y’know… insulting teachers, getting detention… being ginger!”

“Hmm,” Josh hummed thoughtfully. “So what else did I miss?” he asked sadly.

Mark began recounting the rest of the day, though less than a minute into it, he heard Josh’s breathing deepen as he drifted back to sleep, extreme tiredness being one of the other side effects he was suffering from the intensive treatment. Mark planted a gentle kiss on the top of the other boy’s head and barely held back a couple of tears as he held onto the sleeping boy.

*****

Gray had just wandered out of the Dining Hall after dinner with Andy and Ryan from his dorm when he bid them a brief goodbye as they headed upstairs and he continued towards the Home Building’s main exit. As he got outside, he stopped in his tracks and smirked as he saw Nicky standing at the bottom of the steps. As Nicky spotted him, his smirk grew into a grin and he started, “Oh, hey…”

“DON’T call me stalker!” Nicky snapped, his temper frayed by both the Josh situation and his own ongoing chastity.

“…Nicky!” Gray finished, unfazed by the anger. “I was totally gonna say ‘Hey Nicky’, although it DOES kinda look like you were waiting for me,” he added, pausing as Nicky scowled before he finished, “Y’know… like a stalker!”

“You’re a twat!” Nicky said moodily.

“You’re not wrong,” Gray sniggered as he paced down the steps towards the other boy. “So what can I do for ya? I thought you’d be seeing Josh!” he stated.

Nicky felt a heaviness in his chest at the mention of the name, but shook his head and replied, “Nah, he’s allowed visitors any time but we’re trying not to crowd the place. I’m going tomorrow!”

“Oh, cool,” Gray nodded as he slowly paced down the stone steps. It was tough seeing the impact the news had caused to his classmates. Having only been at the school the school for less than two months, and sharing very few classes with Josh, he had mainly known him from the football and rugby practices, though Josh had missed a few of them even before his diagnosis. He liked Josh, as much as he liked the rest of Year 10, but it was obvious to him that he didn’t feel the sting of the sad news anywhere near as badly as his peers. “So you thought you’d track me down instead because it’s been two hours since we did anything together and you’re missing me so desperately?” he teased.

Nicky nearly snapped back at the other boy as he reached the bottom of the steps. Being angry felt so easy, but he resisted, worn down by his tiring week as he just replied softly, “I just felt a bit low and wanted something fun to do!”

“Wow, well don’t I feel like a total cunt now,” Gray sighed.

“Sorry,” Nicky said, the corner of his mouth curling up into a slight smile as Gray chuckled at himself. “I saw you’d got your camera with you and figured you might be doing something I could join in with,” he explained, tapping at his own camera hanging around his neck.

“Sure,” Gray nodded. “I wasn’t planning anything special. Was just gonna wander and see if anything catches my eye!”

“Sounds good to me!” Nicky said happily. They started walking and after a few moments of silence, Nicky said apologetically, “I hope you don’t mind me using you as a distraction!”

“Oh no,” Gray said with over-exaggerated flatness as he waved his hands lethargically, “The guy I do everything with and likes all the same shit I do wants to do stuff with me. It’s awful, I hate this place so much!”

Nicky tutted, rolled his eyes and said, “Sarcasm’s only funny when I do it!”

“Sorry,” Gray sniggered, without looking even slightly sorry. “But it’s cool. I get it, and it’s probably gonna happen a lot, so… y’know, any time you need to hang out… come and stalk me!”

Despite the choice of words, which earned another eye roll from Nicky, he smiled gratefully at the sentiment.

*****

“Everyone alright in here?” Mr Rudd asked, standing at the door to dorm 2.01 as the four boys lounged around the room ahead of lights out.

“Yes sir!” “All good!” “Yeah!” Chris, Danny and Nicky replied all at once as Mikey just gave a non-committal grunt.

“Well good night then. Lights off within five, okay?” Mr Rudd said with a weary smile as he left and shut the door behind him, heading off to the final dorm of his round of checks.

Nicky glanced briefly at Mikey who was already curled up in bed, then over to Chris and Danny who were sat on their conjoined bunks looking at something on a laptop. “I was gonna stop by and see Josh in the morning if anyone wants to come,” Nicky said with a meek smile.

<<Yes, they always return to the scene of the crime. You should totally go!>>

Chris and Danny both looked back, knowing fully well what Nicky was doing. “We were actually gonna stop in after lunch tomorrow,” Danny answered for both of them.

“Okay,” Nicky nodded, then looked to his actual target and asked, “Mikey, you wanna come?”

<<Yes. Do it. Confess while you’re at it!>>

“Can’t. Football!” Mikey replied bluntly without moving.

“You can be excused if you want. Captain’s privilege,” Danny chuckled.

<<Aww, Danny’s so nice. We like Danny. It’s a shame he hates you!>>

“No, I’m okay,” Mikey replied, shaking his head slightly.

Nicky grimaced a little as Chris and Danny both looked his way. He shook his head. After years with the moody boy, both at school and at home with him during the breaks, Nicky knew Mikey better than anyone. It meant he knew what battles to pick, and when the best time was to pick them. “Okay,” he said airily, “Well if you change your mind, you’re very welcome!”

<<Nicky’s nice too. I’ll miss him when they make us leave!>>

“Mmm-huh,” Mikey grunted.

“I know… Josh’d be happy to see you!” Nicky added cautiously.

<<We both know that’s a fucking lie!>>

Mikey didn’t reply. He just pulled the covers up tighter round his neck.

Closing his laptop to place it aside, Chris jumped off the bed as he asked, “Am I good to turn lights off?” Getting a murmur of agreement from the others, he flicked off the lights and jumped back into bed alongside Danny. “Yay, it’s wank o’clock!” he said with a giggle.

Danny giggled at the comment as he let his hand slide under the covers and onto Chris’ stomach. “Just a wank?” he asked playfully.

“Good point,” Chris purred back, then sat up and called down the dorm, “You guys wanna join in?”

“No!” Mikey replied curtly.

“I’m good,” Nicky replied at the same time. He sighed softly. His own reasons were fairly obvious. He was still wearing the chastity device he had been put in nearly two weeks ago, one that had thankfully still remained hidden from his dormmates and the wider Year 10 populace.

“Okay, well… your loss!” Chris replied bluntly. “I’d say we’ll try not to disturb you, but I’d be lying!” Suddenly jumping across, he straddled Danny, staring down at him in the darkness for a moment before leaning down to make out with him.

It had been over 5 hours since Danny’s meeting with Avery, more than enough time for his horniness to build back up. As they made out, they pushed down and then kicked off their underwear, leaving them both fully naked as their bodies pressed together.

“I wanna fuck you,” Chris growled in Danny’s ear.

“Works for me!” Danny giggled as Chris slid back to kneel between his legs. He pulled them back as Chris reached out to retrieve lubricant, then knelt slicking his dick eagerly.

Chris smiled slightly as he glanced to the side. He could see both Nicky and Mikey watching them in the darkness. He would have loved them to join in. Having Nicky’s massive cock inside him as he fucked Danny always felt amazing, just as Mikey’s dick just felt natural in his mouth. Alas, for now he would have to settle for them silently spectating.

As Danny grabbed the back of his knees and pulled his legs back to give Chris access to his rear, he felt lubricated fingers slide into him, finger fucking him for several moments before being replaced by something a little bigger.

They moaned in content unison as Chris’ hips pressed against Danny’s butt, the whole of him now inside. He pulled back, all the way out and circled the head of his dick around Danny’s hole before sliding in again. With a hand gripping onto each of Danny’s muscular thighs, Chris pulled back most of the way and then shoved back in hard.

“Fuck,” Danny muttered from the severity of the thrust.

Chris pulled back again and slammed right back in, then again, and again. With each thrust, Danny was being inched slowly up the bed until his head was pressed against the headboard.

Reaching up to brace himself and prevent being bunched up anymore, Danny felt Chris grab his legs to hold them up for him. Danny gasped and shuddered as Chris slammed away at him. At first he had simply thought Chris was eager, maybe excessively horny, but this was beginning to feel substantially more… aggressive! It wasn’t hard to figure out why. “Chris,” he whispered, reaching down with one of his hands to stroke his boyfriend’s arm, “It’s okay!”

Chris paused and let out a gentle whimper. He had allowed himself to become distracted, his mind wandering onto Josh. “Sorry,” he whispered, pulling out completely.

“It’s okay, I get it,” Danny whispered sympathetically. As Chris released his legs, Danny flopped them down either side of him then held out his arms.

Chris sighed as he leaned down to rest his head on Danny’s chest, feeling the other boy’s arms wrap around him as he pulled the covers up over them. “It sucks,” he whispered sadly.

“I know,” Danny replied, holding tightly, “It does!”

*****

It had been quite a while since Mr Rudd finished his last check of the night and the room had been silent since then. David on his side of the dorm, Mark on his, the two beds at the far end of the dorm vacant as Rob was once again spending the night in the new medical facility with Josh.

As David heard a hearty sigh from across the room, he asked quietly, “You awake?”

“Yeah,” Mark replied quietly. “Can’t sleep,” he replied gloomily.

“Me neither,” David replied.

Mark reached over to click on the small lamp beside his bed, illuminating the room just enough for the two boys to see each other. They both turned onto their sides to face each other without sitting up.

“What ya thinking about?” David asked curiously.

Mark thought for a moment, frowned and said, “Size!”

“Oh, so it DOES matter,” David replied with a smirk.

“Funny!” Mark replied with a lop-sided grin. He sat up and turned to lean against the wall beside his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest with his arms around them. Propping his chin on his arms he looked across at David and said, “Earlier, when I went to see Josh, he ended up, like… cuddled up to me because… well, that’s just how Chris has trained us!” He gave a wry grin as David chuckled his agreement. “But when I was holding him he just seemed so… small!”

David sat up too, leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out across the bed as he cocked his head curiously, one eyebrow raised.

“I know I’m pretty big for my age, and Josh has always been on the smaller side anyway so it’s probably just me… projecting or something, but… ugh…” Mark shook his head as he paused to sigh again. “Honestly he just felt so… tiny and it was horrible cos I just wanted to… pick him up and make it all better but there was just nothing I could do!”

“You were there with him. You’re doing plenty!” David reassured him.

Mark gave a slightly relieved smile and nodded as he replied quietly, “Thanks, yeah… yeah!” He paused for a few moments before he asked, “So what’s on your mind? I mean… obviously I know who, but… anything in particular?”

David let out a low groan as he shook his head dejectedly and admitted, “I did something really stupid during study hour today!”

Mark wanted to joke, but he knew whatever it was, David was clearly torn up about. “What stupid thing did you do?” he asked curiously.

“I… did research,” David said, then lowered his gaze and added, “About AML!” When he heard no immediate reply, he glanced over at Mark who looked a little confused and went on, “Acute Myeloid…”

“Oh, got it!” Mark interjected. “Is that… bad? Researching, I mean. I think a lot of guys have been doing it since they found out!”

“For me, it is!” David admitted. “I tend to do this thing where I… look into things too much and… I dunno… freak myself out with facts! I did it a bit when Rose came out as trans, but the worst one was Covid. I completely just… obsessed over it and freaked out and ended up… well, you know my agoraphobia?”

“It’s been mentioned,” Mark said with a sympathetic nod before his eyes widened and he asked, “Oh, so is that what started it?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I mean… other stuff played a part, but mainly that!” David explained. “So when we found out about Josh, I promised myself I wouldn’t go looking into it too much.”

“But you did?” Mark asked. Getting a nod from David, he asked softly, “Why?”

“I just… wanted to know what he’s in for,” David explained, his jaw trembling slightly, “And it’s horrible!”

Mark nodded gently as he thought for a moment.

“And now I can’t stop thinking about it,” David continued. “Well, I was already thinking about it obviously, but even more now!” He watched Mark get up off his bed and went on, “Like, did you know this chemo he’s having now is just the first phase. It’s, like, really short but intense, but then after that there’s another even longer phase.”

“Mmm-huh,” Mark hummed as he walked over to the desk and grabbed a laptop.

David frowned but continued talking, “And when that’s over, which could be a REALLY long time, there may even be other stuff they have to do!” He cocked his head as his brow furrowed more, watching Mark sit back down. “And then, if it ALL goes to plan and he gets through all that, then there’s still only, like… a seventy percent five-year survival rate!”

“Mmm-huh,” Mark hummed as he tapped away for a few moments.

“And I know seventy percent sounds a lot,” David continued, but paused and asked in slight frustration, “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, just watching Drag Race. You keep talking though, it’s fine!” Mark said with a gentle nod before looking down at the screen. He felt a bit rude effectively cutting David off, but he could tell the other boy was getting increasingly upset from re-treading the same ground yet again.

“You think you’re gonna distract me with drag queens?” David pouted. “I’m not quite that easy to…”

“I’m re-watching season six!” Mark interrupted.

David went to speak, the words he wanted to say clearly conflicting with what he felt. “Damn you,” he eventually grumbled as he jumped off his bed. “This isn’t gonna distract me!” he insisted.

“Shh,” Mark hushed him. “Don’t talk over Ru! It’s rude!”

David pursed his lips, scowling a little as he climbed onto the bed and sat next to Mark. As they settled into place, Mark slipped an arm around David’s shoulders.

“Okay, if this is what you did for Josh,” David said as he nuzzled against the larger figure beside him, “Then you were DEFINITELY helping him!”

Mark didn’t reply beyond a gentle chuckle and a playful kiss to the top of David’s head.

*****

Josh groaned as he spat into the toilet, one hand reaching out to flush it, the other grabbing some tissue to wipe his mouth. He jumped slightly as he felt a hand rubbing his back. “No,” he mumbled. “You don’t need to see this!”

“Yeah, I think we established the morning after the vodka incident back at Kinkswood that I’m not bothered by a bit of sick!” Rob said with a slight chuckle as he knelt beside Josh, rubbing his back.

“Oh yeah,” Josh said with a slight smirk as he pulled away from the toilet and sat down leaning against the wall. “That was a FUN night… and a BAD morning!” he reminisced.

“Slight understatement!” Rob smirked. As the noise of the flushing toilet stopped, silence filled the room for a moment, until Rob smiled and said, “Y’know Luke says we have that vodka to thank for how good things are with us and Jazz!”

“Hmm?” Josh hummed curiously, looking at the other boy.

“He reckons if I hadn’t been so drunk I never would’ve actually talked about how I was feeling about… stuff!” Rob said, avoiding wanting to go into specifics.

“He’s got a point,” Josh agreed with a gentle nod. “You suck at talking about that stuff!”

“Hey, I’m getting better!” Rob said defensively.

Josh went to speak, but instead turned to lean over the toilet and threw up again. As he started coughing and spluttering, he felt Rob’s hand once again and let out a quiet grateful whimper before throwing up a little more.

A man suddenly appeared at the doorway and stepped in, squatting down to Josh’s other side. “Hey there, big man!” he said softly, also placing a hand on Josh’s back as he shot Rob a sympathetic smile. His name was Peter and he was one of the nurses responsible for Josh’s care while undergoing treatment. He was a young man in his late twenties with a slight hint of an Eastern European accent that Rob couldn’t quite place and a smile that could lighten any room.

“Hi,” Josh said with a brief smile before throwing up the tiny bit he had left.

“Is this normal?” Rob asked nervously.

Peter gave a reassuring smile and gentle nod as he said, “It happens. We may just need to tweak the anti-nausea meds a little!”

“A little?” Josh asked with a frown as he flushed and wiped his mouth again.

“Okay, maybe a lot,” Peter said with a chuckle. “Here,” he added as he handed a glass of water to Josh. As Josh swilled his mouth to clear the taste, he asked, “Got it all out?”

Josh spat and replied, “I think so!”

“Let’s get you back to bed then,” Peter said softly, then let his eyes flick briefly to Rob as he said, “Both of you!”

“Sorry I woke you,” Josh apologised as the others helped him up and they walked back through to the next room.

“S’okay,” Rob said with a shrug as he stood back, letting Josh climb into his bed. Once he was satisfied Josh was settled, he climbed back onto the small bed beside the main one and watched quietly as Peter did a few more checks and provided a bowl in case Josh needed to throw up again, so he could do so without leaving the bed.

“Just press the button if you need anything,” Peter said softly before he left.

“Come on then,” Josh said once they were alone again. “If you say you’re getting better at sharing your feelings, what are you feeling right now?”

“Tired mostly!” Rob chuckled, glancing at the clock. As he saw Josh staring at him intently, he felt a churning in his stomach. He took a deep breath and exhaled shakily before he answered honestly, “Scared!” He paused briefly and added a little tearfully, “I’m just… really, really scared!”

Josh nodded thoughtfully for a moment before he replied, “Me too!” He reached a hand out to the side, which Rob immediately took hold of. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said, barely above a whisper. Moments later, still hand-in-hand, they had drifted off to sleep.