The Kingswood Complication - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Sunday 16 October 2022

James let out a gentle, contented sigh. Waking up naturally was a rare experience. Most mornings it was his own alarm that woke him for classes or extracurriculars, or occasionally the sound of his dormmates getting up or being generally loud and annoying. Allowing himself to lie peacefully for a moment, he eventually opened his eyes and immediately saw big, brown eyes staring back at him.

David had slept on the bed that pulled out from beneath James’. The two had cuddled before going to sleep (as well as other things) but decided against sleeping in the same bed, purely for comfort, rather than any fear of being ‘caught’. David was clearly already wide awake and sitting up with his arms and head resting on the side of James’ bed, staring at him.

A broad grin spread across James’ face as he said sleepily, “Now THAT is a view I like waking up to!”

David just chuckled at the comment as he remained in place, staring into James’ happy, hazel eyes. After a few peaceful moments, David said quietly, “I still miss having you in the next bed when I wake up in the morning!”

James reached out to run his fingers through David’s hair, which was currently a faded blue with his dark roots showing through, having not dyed it since the start of term. “Me too,” James said softly as he casually played with David’s hair, “But I guess that just makes us appreciate this time even more!”

David’s entire face lit up at the comment. “You’ve changed!” he said thoughtfully.

James visibly recoiled slightly at the comment but didn’t speak.

“For the better, I mean!” David quickly added. “I just mean… that was pretty, umm… optimistic!? Yeah, I think that’s the right way to put it. I remember a time when you wouldn’t have even thought something like that, let alone actually said it!”

James’ brow furrowed briefly before he nodded agreeably, “I guess so. Hey, look at me, I’m growing up!” He laughed as he swung his legs round and slipped off his bed and down onto David’s to sit beside him.

David shifted round a little to grip tightly onto James’ arm, resting his head on the other boy’s shoulder as he cuddled up to him. “So what’s the plan today?” he asked airily.

“Homework!” James said without missing a beat.

David immediately sat up, scowling slightly as he began, “We’re not going through this again. You can’t study all the…”

“Hold up!” James said, clasping his hand over David’s mouth to muffle the rest of the sentence. Smiling, he stared into his eyes for a moment before dropping the hand to kiss him. As he pulled away, he nodded and said, “I know. I need breaks and we need to have fun and THAT’S why I wanna do homework!” As he saw David go to question it, he quickly jumped back in to add, “That way, it’s all done and out of the way and I get to spend the rest of the week just having fun with my amazing boyfriend!”

A broad smile spread across David’s face for a moment before a hint of sadness crept into his expression. Not wanting to ruin the sweet moment, he nodded and said, “That’s an amazing plan!” Looking James up and down for a moment, he asked slyly, “Do we have to go onto the homework RIGHT away or do we have time for… other stuff first?”

“Oh, there’s ALWAYS time for… ‘other’ stuff,” James said with a playful wink.

“Wow, you really HAVE changed,” David giggled. He leaned closer as James chuckled back until their lips met. Holding the position for a brief moment, they both relaxed into it at the same time, opening their mouths just a little as they began making out, their hands reaching out at each other exploratorily. Starting off with a hand on James’ stomach, David rubbed it gently for a moment before sliding it down to go back up under his t-shirt, feeling the smooth, warm skin beneath.

After circling James’ belly button with his fingers a couple of times, David let his hand slide up further, making its way to the firm, flat chest, feeling the slight bump of a nipple run beneath his palm. At the same time, James pulled out from the kiss and David felt lips on his neck instead. Continuing to caress the other boy’s body as James’ mouth worked its magic, he let out a gentle moan and said, “You’re so slim! I wish I was!”

James pulled back at cocked his head curiously, then reached out to brush a few stray strands of hair from David’s face before he smiled and said, “You’re working on it!” Getting a meek smile and nod in return, he added, “Besides, I think you’re perfect already!” He reached out to place a hand on David’s belly. While he had certainly slimmed down over the last few years from a mix of puberty and exercise, he still had a sizeable podge, which James rubbed gently.

“You always say the right thing,” David said happily.

“Oh, that is categorically untrue,” James insisted with a headshake, “But I appreciate the sentiment!”

David laughed at the comment. As much as he had changed, James still remained very much the same. It was a wonderfully complex dichotomy to consider, though now was not the time. Both boys were sporting painfully obvious erections in their shorts and with unspoken agreement, both reached out to touch them. While James slid his hand straight inside David’s shorts to grab his erection directly, David just caressed James’ through the clothing for now.

They started kissing again, casually enjoying the embrace as they played with each other contentedly. After several minutes of playing, David could feel the wet patch in James’ shorts as he had continued to squeeze, stroke and caress the straining tool through them. He started stroking more firmly as he felt James doing the same to him.

As the excitement began to grow, the kissing stopped and the two boys returned to staring into each other’s eyes, their breathing growing ragged as their orgasms crept closer. David began to shoot first, filling David’s hand with his spunk. He wanted to collapse against him, but knew he needed to finish the other boy off so he kept staring as his hand stroked rapidly. Suddenly, white goo began oozing through the fabric as James let out a series of pleasured whimpers from the mix of the stroking, the cumming and the shorts rubbing against his sensitive cock head.

“Okay, okay, stop… stop!” James said, grasping David’s hand to stop it.

They sat grinning at each other as they calmed from their shared release. It was David who broke the silence as he asked, “So does that mean it’s homework time?”

James smiled, but slipped an arm around the other boy as he pushed him into a lying position and replied, “Not quite yet,” he said happily as he cuddled up to him.

*****

Monday 17 October 2022

“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!” Mikey snapped angrily, folding his arms as he sat down on Nicky’s bed.

<<Ooh, we’re being loud? GREAT!>>

<<LOUD RHYMES WITH PROUD! BE PROUD OF BEING LOUD!>>

“Oh my god. WHAT is your problem?” Nicky snapped back. He was still getting used arguing, having historically always fled from disagreements, and his legs already felt wobbly. Mikey had continued to be withdrawn and moody (even by his standards) since they got back to Nicky’s house for half-term, but a simple question from Nicky had clearly triggered him.

“YOU!” Mikey snarled. “YOU’RE MY PROBLEM!”

<<SHOUTING IS FUN!>>

Nicky could already feel himself wanting to back down, to apologise for starting it, to maybe return voices to their normal levels. He knew he should, and any other time – and any other subject – he might have done. “He’s one of your best friends and he has cancer and you’re fucking ignoring him! I’d say YOU’RE the one with the problem!” Nicky said, managing to moderate his volume, if not his acidic tone.

“It’s none of your fucking business!” Mikey said, his volume lowering to match Nicky’s.

<<NO! GO BACK TO SHOUTING! YELLING! SCREAMING! SCREAM! YOU SCREAM, I SCREAM… ooh, ice cream! I’m hungry!>>

“It IS my business!” Nicky insisted.

<<Give me ice cream. Now, bitch!>>

The anger seemed to drop from Mikey’s face as he frowned thoughtfully, then looked at Nicky for a moment and asked calmly, “Sorry, what? I missed that!”

“I… you… I said…” Nicky stammered, completely thrown. He didn’t know whether this was a strategy of Mikey’s, intended to confuse him, but from the genuinely lost expression on the other boy’s face it seemed like genuine confusion on his side too. He let out a frustrated sigh, shook his head slightly and said, “Mikey, I just wanna understand what’s going on with you!”

<<Where’s my ice cream?>>

“Can we get ice cream?” Mikey asked, cocking his head curiously.

<<Good boy!>>

“Can we…” Nicky began to repeat, shaking his head in absolute bewilderment. “Mikey, why can’t we talk about this without you screaming at me?”

<<SCREAM! SCREAM! SCREAM! SCREEEEEEAM!>>

“I just don’t wanna talk about it, okay!” Mikey said, adamant but at least remaining calm.

<<You mean because if you do and Nicky finds out what you did he’ll hate you forever?>>

Nicky stared at his best friend for a few moments and felt tears welling in his eyes. He quickly turned away and said, “I’ll go see if we have any ice cream!” He rushed out of his room and closed the door, then paused as he felt a tear roll down his cheek, threatening to be the first of many.

“Nicky, honey. Is that you?” Jenny called up the stairs from the bottom.

Quickly wiping his cheek and coughing slightly to clear his throat and regain his composure, Nicky leaned over the banister and looked down as he replied, “Yup! Hi mum!”

“Your dad and I were thinking about heading to Fairhams to have a wander round and maybe do some shopping. You and Michael want to come?” Jenny asked, looking at her son thoughtfully though she retained a gentle smile.

Nicky couldn’t help smiling back. His mum persisted in calling Mikey by his proper name, and as much as he protested, he knew Mikey actually quite liked it. “Umm… can we get ice cream?” Nicky requested.

“Sure,” Jenny replied, then gave a wry grin and said, “If you’re good!”

Nicky tutted and rolled his eyes as he said, “Well that’s basically a no then!” He sniggered as his mum shook her head disapprovingly. “But sure, I reckon he’ll be up for it!” Nicky replied, then thought to himself, ‘So long as nobody mentions Josh!’

“Hey, could you…” Jenny started, then silently beckoned Nicky to come down.

Rolling his eyes again, Nicky walked round and headed down the stairs. He stopped a couple of steps up, and considering he already towered over his mother anyway, now loomed even taller over her, smirking.

“Here,” Jenny said, pointing to the ground, “And take a seat!”

Nicky reluctantly moved down and then sat onto the steps, bringing himself down to a little below his mother’s eye level.

“Are you okay?” Jenny asked, tilting her head sympathetically.

Nicky gave a lop-sided grin, a slight smirk and replied, “Yeah, fine!”

“I thought I heard shouting,” Jenny said, eyebrows raised. They rose even higher as she added a coy, “Again!”

Nicky didn’t reply, he just pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Michael really doesn’t seem himself, and you…” Jenny paused, reaching out place a hand gently on Nicky’s head, stroking his hair affectionately, “You have a lot going on, that’s all!”

Nicky kept his lips tightly pressed together, held still for a moment and then nodded.

“Anything you wanna talk about?” Jenny asked softly.

Nicky opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out so he closed it again. His brow furrowed heavily as he thought about it then tried again and said, “Yeah, but… not… yet!”

Jenny stared at her son for a few moments. While it was undeniable that having him away for weeks at a time at Kingswood caused a little distance between them, they still remained as close as ever. “Okay, well when you wanna talk, you know where me and dad are!” She paused to give sweet smile and added, “We’re heading out in about fifteen minutes, so you and Michael come down as soon as you’re ready, okay? I’ll go tell your dad we need to stop for ice cream!”

Nicky nodded and smiled as he stood and turned to head back up the stairs. He stopped a couple of steps up and hurried back down. Throwing his arms around Jenny, he hugged her tightly, playfully kissed the top of her head and said, “Thank you, tiny mum!”

“Cheeky!” Jenny smirked as Nicky hurried back up the stairs.

*****

Josh jumped slightly, stirring from a gentle snooze as he heard the door of the dorm open.

“There you are!” Mark exclaimed, shaking his head as he walked into their room. “When you said you were going for a nap, I assumed you meant down in the med bay!” he said as he wandered into the room. Since half-term started, he had not been sleeping in his dorm. As was usual for the breaks, the boys who had not gone home were gathered together in one or two of the first-floor dorms to make supervising the smaller group easier for the teacher on chaperoning duty. The only exception was Josh, who was staying in the medical facility, where Mark had assumed he had gone after saying he needed a nap.

“I did!” Josh replied as he sat up, “But I’m sick of being in there! And…” he paused, glancing down at the bed he had lying on, “… this bed… smells like Rob!”

Mark nodded gently as he approached, his eyes flicking up briefly to watch the rain pelting against the window.

“Aren’t you gonna take the piss?” Josh pouted.

“Nah,” Mark replied with a gentle headshake. “You do whatever it takes to feel better!” he said softly.

“Yeah, it didn’t,” Josh sighed as he stood up, “It just made me miss him more!”

“Come on,” Mark said, gesturing to the next bed over which belonged to Josh. “I know I’m no Rob, but Chris has tutored me in the fine art of cuddling and I reckon I’ll make an adequate substitute!” He gestured again and said, “You get on first.” Gesturing to the window on the opposite side of the bed, he suggested, “We can lay and watch the rain. I always find that relaxing!”

“Okay,” Josh said, happily climbing onto his own bed. He shuffled over as Mark laid down behind him, the two spooning together as they stared at water dribbling down the windowpane.

As expected, Josh had soon drifted off, but Mark remained in place holding him. Thankfully he still had one arm free, which reached into his pocket for his phone. If he had been concerned about Josh’s whereabouts, then it was only a matter of time until one of the adults missed him too. Mr Rudd was chaperoning for the week, but for a change he was not the lone adult. Jack, Josh’s legal guardian, had come to stay at the school for the week, meaning Josh’s adopted brother Ellis was staying too, along with a handful of other students. Mark typed a message out letting Mr Rudd know where Josh was and that he was okay, then placed the phone down and returned to cuddling Josh, relaxing as he listened to the pelting rain mingled with Josh’s slow rhythmic breathing.

About an hour and a half later, Josh awoke and tilted his head round to look back at Mark, letting out a heavy yawn.

“Oh, hello again!” Mark giggled.

“Hi!” Josh said sleepily. “You’re really comfy, by the way!” he said with a grin as he nuzzled back against the large muscular body at his rear.

“I’m assuming that’s a compliment,” Mark said wryly, getting a nod in return. “Thanks! How you feeling then? You wanna go get some lunch? The others have just gone!”

“Sure, I need to stop by at the Med Bay first for my meds,” Josh said casually.

They climbed out of bed and started walking through the dorm to head downstairs. Josh didn’t need assistance. His time spent hospital-bound was more for supervision, monitoring and potential infection, but with the building mostly empty for the week he was a little freer to move around. The increased freedom had soon revealed just how easily he got worn out though, which had been a rather unpleasant realisation for the usually-active boy. Just getting to the bottom of the stairs had him breathless, leading Mark to slip around him as they walked the rest of the way to the medical facility.

Upon his return, the nurse on duty – Niall today – gave Josh his medication before carrying out a few checks of his vitals. By the time he was done, Josh looked ready to drop again.

“I might not join you for lunch after all,” Josh said sheepishly, “Sorry!”

“That’s okay,” Mark nodded, “You want some alone time or should I maybe come back after I’ve…”

“Come back!” Josh interrupted, nodding emphatically.

“Okay,” Mark replied with a grin, “Be back soon!”

Josh remained sitting as he watched Mark leave, leaning over slightly to watch him longer as he left the room. Sighing softly to himself, Josh flopped back down and was asleep again almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

*****

Tuesday 18 October 2022

A video call to Kingswood had become a part of Rob’s daily routine since coming home for the break. Josh had agreed to it primarily because it was one of the conditions Rob set before he would agree to leave the school for the week, insisting he ‘had ways’ to make his parents and the teachers let him stay if he needed it.

While the two boys chatted a lot about what they were doing with their time, both of them had their own target subject. In Rob’s case, it was checking in that Josh was doing everything right with his treatment, taking his meds and not over-exerting himself. For Josh, it was nothing but constant questions about Milo, his determination to be the best mentor possible now even stronger thanks to the stress he knew his illness had put on the younger boy.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rob asked with a scowl, shaking his head a little having just heard what Josh had planned for the afternoon.

Josh rolled his eyes at the question. “Fuck’s sake, Rob,” he said exasperatedly, “I’m just going out to spend some time in the school grounds while the weather’s decent, I’m not running a fucking marathon!”

Rob’s expression softened, but not by much as he continued, “Yeah, I know, but still…”

“No!” Josh said firmly. He stared Rob dead in the eye, or rather, straight at the camera, knowing it would have the same effect, and said softly, “I’m back on the chemo next week and it’s gonna wipe me out again. Let me just enjoy this week, okay?”

Rob stared back for a moment then nodded and said, “Okay!” As he watched Josh raise a hand to rub his head, he watched as several strands of hair came away as his fingers pulled away. He saw Josh look at his hand then back to the camera before he gave a gentle sigh and said, “So it’s started then?”

“Yeah,” Josh said with a casual shrug, still looking at the loose strands, “No big deal, we knew it probably would!”

“It might not all go!” Rob said hopefully.

Josh shrugged again, then smirked as he said, “I’d say it’s hit my pubes hardest, but I barely had any to begin with!”

Rob snorted with laughter, rocking back and forth a little as Josh grinned at the happy sound.

“Look, I gotta go,” Josh said, looking round, “Need to make the most of actually being conscious! Say hi to Milo for me!”

“Will do. Speak soon,” Rob replied, giving a gentle wave before ending the call. Standing up from his desk, he turned and stepped across the room and flopped face first onto his bed. He was only lying there a few moments before he heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” he called out quickly. “Oh hi,” he added as he bounced round into a sitting position as he watched his dad walk in.

“Hey mister,” Trevor said with a meek smile as he stood just inside the doorway. “How’s Josh?” he asked, tilting his head the same way he did literally any time he talked about Josh now.

Rob pursed his lips and shrugged thoughtfully for a moment before he replied, “Okay… ish!” Although he knew it was a pointless subject now, he literally couldn’t help bringing it up at every chance as he grumbled, “I don’t see why I couldn’t have stayed there with him!”

Trevor nodded gently as he closed the door and said, “That’s actually what I came to talk to you about,” as he walked across the room and sat down on the bed next to Rob. “What Josh is going through is unbelievably hard,” he started cautiously, “But so is what YOU’RE going through!”

“I’m okay,” Rob said dismissively with another shrug.

“You are,” Trevor agreed with a slight head bob. “But it’s going to get harder,” he said, then frowned a little as he added, “And that’s the voice of experience there!”

Rob‘s brow furrowed as he looked at his dad curiously.

“You know your Uncle Roger,” Trevor said softly, referring to his younger brother. It got an immediate nod from Rob, so he continued, “Well it was… a lot of years ago, right after Milo was born actually, so you’d have been around four maybe? Well, Roger found a lump and he… ‘eventually’ got it checked out and they told him he had testicular cancer!”

“Uncle Roger did!?” Rob exclaimed in surprise. “I… I…didn’t know!” he stuttered.

Trevor shook his head gently. “No, you were too young to really know about it at the time. But Roger didn’t really have anyone else in his life. He hadn’t met Carla yet so it was just him. I ended up being his primary carer while he went through his treatment and it was… definitely hard on both of us!”

“He’s okay though, isn’t he?” Rob asked nervously.

“Yes! Oh, yes, totally. He’s been cancer free for years and no sign of relapse. He’s probably gonna outlive us all!” Trevor said with a gentle chuckle. “But my point is, Rob, I’ve been there. They sometimes say the cure is worse than the disease and there were definitely days it felt like that, but I shouldered a lot of that stuff on my own. Your mum was there obviously, but she was trying to keep the business running while looking after you and Milo!”

“I’m sorry,” Rob said meekly, unsure what else to say.

“No, it’s okay,” Trevor said, shaking his head, “That’s behind me and Roger got through it and so did I, but it…” He paused, inhaling then puffing out his cheeks as he exhaled slowly, holding back as much as he could, “Rob, it scares me to think of the days you might have ahead. Knowing how hard those days were for me makes me very worried about what you’re going to have to go through. I know you’re not happy we made you come home, but that stuff is TOO big to handle without… breaks, without support. I know you’ve GOT a lot of support at Kingswood and honestly, of all the places you could be dealing with this I can’t think of a better one, but still… you can’t just be there in the middle of that all day, every day! So, hate me and your mum as much as you like for not letting you stay, but we’re going to do everything we can to look after YOU, while YOU look after Josh!”

Rob couldn’t speak, he just pressed his lips together firmly as he nodded, his eyes a little watery.

Trevor cleared his throat as he barely maintained his composure, then elbowed Rob gently and smiled. “Now come on, it’s a nice day and you must have better things to do than hang around in your room!” he said as he stood.

“Maybe,” Rob replied, thankful for what his dad had said but not keen to talk on the subject any further. “Is Milo up?” he asked curiously.

“Up and gone!” Trevor said as he headed for the door. “I swear that boy never sits still!” he chuckled.

“Oh,” Rob pouted a little. Spending most of the year away at Kingswood, he had lost touch with most of his old friends as they all grew up. His breaks at home over the last couple of years had usually been spent with Milo, but with him off doing other things, it left Rob at a bit of a loose end.

Several minutes later, Rob had decided to head out and see if one of the few friends he still had contact with was around. Ivan was a boy he had gone to primary school with, but the two had really reconnected a couple of years back when Rob was home for a break, and ended up hooking up with him. It was something they had done a few times since and, even if it wasn’t for sex (which he hoped it would be) Rob thought it would be nice to go and see him.

A quick bike ride later and Rob was at his door. A few moments after he knocked, Ivan’s mum answered the door with a cheerful, “Oh, Robert, lovely to see you!”

“Hi Mrs Charles,” Rob replied with a polite smile.

“Are you looking Ivan?” Mrs Charles asked casually.

“Yeah, is he home?” Rob asked hopefully.

“Not home, but probably not far.” Mrs Charles said casually. “He popped out a short while ago. I think he was heading to the park.”

“Oh, okay,” Rob nodded. “Thanks, sorry to bother you, have a nice day!” he said with a polite nod.

“You too, dear,” Mrs Charles said as she closed the door.

Rob got back on his bike to head for the nearby park. He and Ivan hung out there sometimes, so he had a pretty good idea of where he might be. Ivan rarely went there alone, so if he was with other friends that probably meant Rob wasn’t gonna get to ‘play’ with him, but it would still be fun to just hang out. As he reached the area Ivan tended to frequent, Rob rode round for a while annoyingly found no sign of him.

On the verge of giving up, Rob noticed a bike tyre protruding from a bush and, stopping to investigate, found Ivan’s bike. Looking round curiously, he heard voices beyond the undergrowth and slowly started pushing his way through to investigate.

The muffled voices quickly grew clearer as he heard Ivan declare, “Ah yeah, that’s it!”

As his friend came into sight, Rob paused for a moment, surprised at what he was seeing. Ivan was on all fours, naked from the waist down as another boy was positioned behind him, gripping on tightly… fucking him! He could only see the back of the mystery fucker, so Ivan was concealed but the voice was unmistakable. Rob still had little to no interest in engaging in anal sex himself, but he couldn’t deny he enjoyed watching. Catching his friend in the act was both amusing and exciting.

Not wanting to pass the opportunity to embarrass the other boy, Rob pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures before he started recording video, ready to capture the moment he alerted them to his presence. Stepping out, he called out with a grin, “You guys having fun?”

Ivan peered round, looking horrified and yelped, “Rob!”

The boy fucking him turned suddenly at the comment and his eyes widened too as he echoed Ivan and exclaimed, “Rob!”

Rob just stared wide-eyed, frozen for a moment before he gasped, “Milo!?”

*****

Mark had not intended to masturbate. He had headed to his dorm with every intention of simply changing his clothes, but being fifteen, undressed and alone it had just kind of happened. He had started off rushing through it, but as the realisation came that for once he actually had some solitude, he settled and relaxed into it. Now simply laid on his bed, relaxed and naked, he slowly stroked his throbbing tool.

He let his other hand gently roam his own torso. The muscles he felt slide beneath his fingertips were both a blessing and a curse, but for now that wasn’t what was on his mind, all he could think about was enjoying the pleasure of touching himself. Letting the hand on his shaft slide up to the tip, he felt the slight wetness of precum and massaged it into the exposed head with his thumb. He shuddered at the intense sensitivity of the touch and pulled his thumb back, but repeated it a few moments later, and again, repeatedly teasing himself.

Roughly tracing the shape of his abs with one finger, it made its way to the bottom of a pectoral and gently traced along the curve of its underside, before sliding up to circle and then pinch a nipple. Even after an entire year at Kingswood, it still felt strange to masturbate so (relatively) openly, but more-so, to actually masturbate pleasurably, rather than a frantic, nervous wank to relieve horniness accompanied by a crippling fear of getting caught and mercilessly mocked. While Mark had no desire to be caught now, he at least knew if he did it wouldn’t be the end of the world!

The door to the dorm suddenly opened… it was the end of the world!

“Oh, sorry!” Josh stated as he saw Mark desperately trying to cover up.

Mark breathed a sudden sigh of relief. While he kept his hands clasped onto the covers that he had pulled over to conceal his erection, he was less bothered about the rest of himself being seen by his roommate. His cheeks had flushed bright red from the shock and surprise, still glowing in redness as he mumbled, “Oh, um… sorry.”

“Didn’t mean to interrupt,” Josh said shyly, looking the bigger boy up and down. “Shall I… leave you to finish?”

The question, kind as it was supposed to be, only embarrassed Mark more. He knew Josh was fully aware of what he’d been doing, but the question actually verbalised it. “Umm… no, I… umm…” he mumbled awkwardly.

Josh shut the door and smiled. “It’s okay, we’ve all been there,” he offered reassuringly. “I think the official rules of the dorm state I have to offer to let you finish, either with or without me here, or offer to help!”

Mark smirked and shook his head. “Of course they do!” he said, clearly bemused. “Do you… want to help?” he asked curiously.

Josh shrugged non-committally. Pouting a little he said, “I’ve not really… been in the mood for that sorta stuff lately, but I can if you like!”

“Wow, despite the enthusiasm,” Mark said with a wry grin, “I’m good. I don’t really… umm… do that!” As he saw Josh frown at him, he shook his head and said, “I mean, I do, but… ugh, it’s complicated!” As Josh nodded gently, Mark added, “Issues!”

Josh’s nodding turned more emphatic as he said, “Oh, yeah. I’m with ya there, mate!” He remained motionless for a moment, clearly thinking before he walked over and jumped onto Mark’s bed, ignoring the obvious awkwardness of the barely-covered naked boy. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours!” he said with a smirk.

Mark shrugged, loosening his grip on the covers as he sat up, leaving his top half exposed but his crotch and legs concealed. “Not much to tell for me,” he said casually. “You know how much of a prick Greg was,” he said, getting a scowl from Josh in return. Greg had been Mark’s boyfriend back at his old school and, aside from being a self-hating, abusive closet case, he had also been quite awful to Josh too. “Long story short,” Mark said, not really keen to go into full detail, “But thanks to him I still have issues letting people touch me!”

“Oh, sorry,” Josh said, recoiling a little as he realised his own leg was pressed gently against Mark’s, through the covers.

“Oh, not like that,” Mark insisted. “Like… if we’re standing in the hallways before a class and it’s busy and someone’s pressed up against me, that’s not a big deal, but take everyone else away and have that person actually reach out to actually TRY to touch me deliberately and… I’d probably freak out!” He huffed slightly and said, “I know… I sound crazy!”

“Oh please, compared to me you sound proper sane!” Josh sniggered, but the smile dropped a little as he added, “But that sounds… confusing!”

“It is. But… Chris helps. Danny too!” Mark said with a confident smile.

“They’re awesome,” Josh said happily.

“So I told you mine…” Mark said leadingly.

“Oh, you’re not ready for all this crazy!” Josh smirked. “Can I interest you in some awkward jokes about cancer instead?” he offered with a cheeky grin.

Mark snorted with laughter but immediately looked guilty and said, “Sorry, I don’t know if I’m supposed to laugh at that!”

“You are!” Josh nodded, “Laughing helps!”

“You don’t have to tell me stuff,” Mark said, reaching out to touch Josh’s hand, “But you can!”

“Umm, what about your no touching thing?” Josh asked accusingly as he looked at the hand on his own.

“Oh! I can touch other people, just not the other way!” Mark exclaimed, then grinned and said proudly, “Told you I was mental!”

Josh giggled and turned his hand over to interlink his fingers with Mark’s. “See, laughing DOES help!” he said with a certain nod, “But… if you really wanna know…”

“I do!” Mark insisted.

Josh sighed gently as he thought about what to say, then admitted, “I haven’t really told anyone else this, at least not… like… fully. I guess Danny knows the most and Rob know… bits of it…”

Mark squeezed his hand a little.

“Well, I… started having sex young, like… even by Kingswood standards,” Josh said with a momentary smirk, “But not entirely by choice either. It was just… one of the ways my brothers tried to hurt me!” He felt his hand tightening, though it was out of anger at the mention of his biological brothers, and he quickly loosened his grip for fear of hurting Mark. “But what made it so weird was that… well… most of the guys I was with, they were… nice!” Josh explained, looking a mix of angry and confused.

Mark watched Josh talking, nodding along gently. Like most of the boys around Josh, he had been told bits about his abusive childhood, but not in any great level of detail.

“Being with them was usually nicer than whatever my brothers woulda been doing to me, not always, but usually,” Josh continued, “And it was doing that stuff that I realised I mostly like boys… and sex… which made it so much more confusing cos I was doing stuff I liked, with people I didn’t hate, but I didn’t have a choice.”

“That sounds really confusing!” Mark said, letting his thumb gently rub the back of Josh’s hand.

“And then when I was, like… free of them, and nobody was MAKING me do sex stuff anymore, but thinking about doing it made me think about THEM,” Josh said, his hand tightening again, “And I hated that, cos there was this thing I was supposed to enjoy and my brothers were gone but they were still taking stuff from me! So I liked doing it, but I hated it too, and it just… messes with my head sometimes!”

“Yeah, it sounds like it,” Mark said sympathetically.

“Half the time, when I like someone, I don’t know if I’m supposed to punch them or kiss them!” Josh admitted.

“Well at least now I know if you ever punch me, I’m doing something right!” Mark said with a lop-sided smile.

Josh laughed and leaned to the side to nudge Mark as he said, “You’re funny. I’m really glad you stayed!” He thought for a moment and said, “If you actually do wanna finish off, I could do it too!” As he saw Mark looking at him wearily, he added a slightly hopeful, “Y’know… together!”

Mark released Josh’s hand and replied, “Sure,” before pushing the covers down to reveal his flaccid cock. Taking it into his hand as Josh pulled out his own dick, he started tugging gently, feeling it quickly swell in his grasp. Looking down to the side at Josh’s crotch, he smiled and asked, “Oh, did you shave?” The moment the question passed his lips he realised what he’d said. His eyes widened as he began, “Josh, I’m sorry, I…”

“It’s okay,” Josh said with a shrug. “It’s not just there,” he said, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, several loose strands pulling away between them.

Mark looked distraught as he stuttered, “I… I… I didn’t… I…”

“Stop!” Josh said abruptly. “I’m not letting this…” he said, flicking away the loose hair, “…ruin the funnest thing I’ll probably do today. So get wanking!” As Mark remained motionless, Josh added a firm, “I’m jerking off with the hottest guy in year ten. Don’t fuck this up for me!”

Mark blushed, especially as he had been called that before and still had issue with it, but he couldn’t help smiling at Josh’s determination and sincerity. “Okay, fine,” he conceded, stroking himself again. He was hard again, more from the earlier stimulation than any particular excitement now, though he certainly enjoyed seeing Josh tugging away at his erection too.

“I’m gonna be that big!” Josh said confidently, nodding to the girthy meat grasped in Mark’s fist. “Growth spurt coming any day now. I know it!” he chuckled.

“Worry about the other kind of spurt first!” Mark sniggered, his hand pumping away rapidly.

Josh snorted with laughter and slapped Mark’s arm as he said, “Stop it. I can’t wank when I’m laughing!”

“Sorry,” Mark said, not at all apologetically. After another minute of rapid wanking, his eyes closed gently as he felt his orgasm approach. “I’m… close,” he gasped gently.

“I might not cum,” Josh whispered, “But I wanna see you do it!”

“Mmmkay,” Mark panted, tilting his head back against the wall as he stroked himself to climax, showering himself with spunk as Josh watched on happily. “Ah man, fuck… that was a good one,” he said contentedly as the spasms died down and he released his raging boner.

“Yeah, it looked it!” Josh said happily. He gave his own erection a few more strokes, but as much as he had enjoyed playing with himself and seeing Mark, he really didn’t feel up to ejaculating and quietly let go, putting himself away.

“Okay, I really need to clean up!” Mark said, looking at the semen smearing his torso, some of it having even landed on his own cheek. “Then how about we go find the others?” he suggested.

“Sure,” Josh said contentedly. He glanced over at Rob’s bed. He was definitely still missing his best friend, but having Mark around was just as comforting.

*****

“Go away!” Milo called through the door moodily.

Rob ignored the comment and opened the door to his little brother’s room.

“Go away means go away, not come in!” Milo snapped, scowling at the older boy. As Rob closed the door and just stood staring at him, Milo shrugged and demanded, “What?”

Rob remained silent, but mostly because if he had opened his mouth he would have yelled at Milo, and he knew their parents would overhear them too easily if he did.

“You’re a dick!” Milo said unhappily, “And Ivan should totally call the police on you!”

Rob rubbed the knuckles of his right hand with his left as he silently seethed over the situation. If his hand was sore, he could only imagine how Ivan’s face must have felt. After the initial shock of seeing it was his own younger brother fucking Ivan, who had quickly jumped to his feet, Rob had charged at him and slugged him in the face, knocking him right back down onto the ground before dragging Milo away by force.

The two siblings had not spoken on the way home, with Milo refusing to even remain at Rob’s side the whole way. As soon as they got home, they had both headed to their rooms to cool off, which had been a couple of hours ago now. It was safe to say Rob had not really cooled off all that much.

“Is he… going to?” Rob asked a little nervously.

Milo glared at his big brother for a moment and genuinely considered scaring him, but he just shook his head silently.

“Okay,” Rob said, visibly relieved.

After a few more awkwardly silent moments, Milo said pointedly, “If that’s all you came to find out, you know now so you can piss off and I can get back to wishing I was an only child!”

It was instantly the most hurtful thing Milo had ever said to Rob, and the words hit as hard as any physical punch. The two boys were unusual in that they very rarely argued. Growing up they had been exceptionally close. Rob was Milo’s idol and Rob was a dedicated and protective big brother. That was what had made Rob’s departure for Kingswood all the more painful, though it didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as what the boy had just said.

“I just… want to protect you!” Rob said, the savage comment instantly deflating his anger into sadness.

“From what? Cumming?” Milo replied angrily.

“No!” Rob insisted. “From… from… guys!” he said, clearly flustered. “From people who want to… to use you or… or hurt you!” he explained, shaking his head.

Milo stood and fronted up to his brother as he demanded, “Did it look like he was hurting me?”

“It’s just… you were… I mean…” Rob stammered. He pursed his lips tightly as his brow furrowed in frustration before he pleaded, “Come on Milo, you know what I’m saying!”

“Yeah, you’re saying you’re a… a…” Milo said, pausing as he couldn’t think of the word. “One second!” he said, holding a hand up to Rob as he pulled out his phone and tapped away for a moment. “Ha! That’s the word. You’re a hyper cryte!”

If the moment hadn’t been so tense Rob might have actually laughed at the whole thing, but he simply shook his head and said, “It’s pronounced hypocrite!”

“Whatever!” Milo said moodily, “But… that’s what you are!”

“I’m just looking out for you!” Rob insisted.

Milo scoffed and replied, “No you’re not!” As Rob recoiled slightly at the response, Milo rambled angrily, “You’re crazy and you’re trying to… to control me and you’re jealous and it’s annoying as fuck and you’re a… a bully and you need to fuck off right now!”

Rob winced slightly as the emotional gut punches kept on coming.

Before Rob could reply, Milo scowled and said, “Now go away unless you want me to go tell mum and dad you punched someone!” When Rob remained motionless, Milo stepped closer and snarled, “NOW!”

Rob backed away and turned to leave the room. He heard it slam behind him.

*****

Thursday 20 October 2022

“I hate you!” Chris said moodily.

Danny grinned at his laptop screen and replied, “Y’know, that’d be way more believable if I didn’t know you love me so much!”

Chris scowled for a moment before he said, “Damn you and your logic! Fine, I love you, but I hate you too!”

“This wouldn’t happen to be anything to do with getting caught jerking off by Finn, would it?” Danny asked with a wicked grin.

Chris’ face dropped as he stared down the camera in dismay. “How do you know that?” he demanded.

Danny grinned again as he said, “You know we talk!”

“About THAT!?” Chris scoffed.

Danny shrugged as he replied, “About lots of things! You think he’s gonna catch my boyfriend knockin’ one out and NOT tell me about it?” He was not surprised by the embarrassing tell when Finn texted him with it. For Chris’ birthday, he had given him the ‘control stone’ a symbol of power that each of them could use to give the other orders that had to be complied with. Before the break, Chris had ordered Danny not to cum for the entire week, but Danny had immediately given him the same order right back, along with an additional caveat that he had to jerk off twice a day without cumming, but he had to be naked with his bedroom door open!

Chris flopped back onto his bed and held his pillow over his face as he growled angrily into it. It was only the sound of Danny’s laughter that prompted him to sit back up, glowering furiously. “It’s not even just him!” he pouted.

Danny’s face lit up as his jaw dropped slightly in anticipation. “Oh my god, who else?” he demanded, his hand slipping into his shorts to grasp at a growing erection, aroused bythe thought of his boyfriend’s humiliation.

“Who hasn’t!” Chris said unhappily. “First night back, it was Aisling. Monday night, it was Edward and this morning it was Finn,” Chris explained, blushing heavily.

Danny snorted with laughter, but as he stopped, his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he studied Chris’ face. “What else?” he asked, confident there was more.

“Well…” Chris said, now turning a shade of red that almost defied explanation, “Tuesday night I was… like… going for it and I heard someone coming!”

“Not you, I hope!” Danny said with a cheesy grin.

“Not funny,” Chris scowled. “But anyway, I managed to pull the covers over in time, which is lucky cos it was Cian,” Chris explained, referring to one of his younger twin brothers. “He wanted to come in and sleep in my room, but cos I couldn’t exactly say to him, ‘Oh, let me put some clothes on’ I just had to let him get in and hope he didn’t notice!”

“And did he?” Danny asked, feeling slightly conflicted. The twins were certainly far too young to be involved in anything sexual, something he knew Chris agreed with, so he knew that wasn’t where the story was going, so he didn’t feel too bad about continuing to get aroused by Chris’ humiliation.

“No,” Chris said, shaking his head, “But then Aiden turned up too and he got in, and you know what they’re like once they’re in with you. You’re pinned!”

“Oh my god,” Danny chuckled, “So what happened?”

Chris sighed and shook his head unhappily. “It was fine until the morning, but once they woke up, Cian must have, like… felt that I wasn’t wearing anything and he immediately tells Aiden and that was it. They were both up and trying to yank the covers off.”

Danny grunted slightly, now masturbating openly rather than just groping himself. It didn’t help that he had now gone several days without cumming. “What then?” he asked shakily.

“Well you know what they’re like!” Chris grumbled. “They never give up. They got the covers off me and I was just kinda sat there bunched up trying to cover the goods but they jumped on me and tried to pull my hands away. Oh my god, are you jerking off over this?” he asked accusingly.

“Yes, and NOT cumming!” Danny said unhappily. “What happened next?” he asked, nodding encouragingly.

“Well they… did it. They wrestled my arms away and they saw everything and they started laughing and teasing and just… being right lil feckers!” Chris blushed. “And it was worse cos…” he stopped, not wanting to say it.

“You were hard?” Danny asked, gulping slightly as he stared at the screen, releasing his cock for fear of cumming.

Chris just nodded. “Which brings us right back to my original point of… I feckin’ hate you!” he said moodily.

“I swear, the SECOND we’re both back at school I’m fucking the cum right out of you!” Danny panted, wanting desperately to reach into his shorts to finish himself off.

“That sounds good to me!” Chris grinned.

“What sounds good?” a voice suddenly called out from behind him.

Another identical voice called out, “Oh my god, is that Danny? HI DANNEEEEEE!” Aiden yelled excitedly as he jumped onto Chris, pushing him out of the way to get in front of the laptop.

“Danny! Hi!” Cian joined in, fighting his twin to get into the picture.

“Excuse me!” Chris grunted from off-screen. “We were having a private conversation!” he complained, but he was ignored by the two younger boys who promptly took over the call.

*****

Josh woke from an instantly-forgotten dream with a sense of unease that vanished just as quickly as he felt a strong hand resting on his own. Cautiously opening one eye, the other immediately opened too as a grin spread across his face at the sight of Mr Rudd, or as Josh called him… “Dad!”

“Hey buddy,” Mr Rudd said in response, smiling back as the boy’s entire face lit up.

Josh looked instantly anxious as he looked round, worried who may have overheard what he called the teacher.

“Chill, it’s just us,” Mr Rudd quickly reassured him. “Doing okay?” he asked softly.

“Better now,” Josh said, still grinning dopily at his favourite adult.

Mr Rudd belly laughed at the cheesy but utterly sincere response. “How you feeling today?” he asked curiously.

Josh pushed himself up to sit in bed at eye level with Mr Rudd but instantly placed his hand back on the man’s as soon as he was in the right position. “The usual,” he said with a shrug. It was a little worrying how quickly being achy and exhausted with a constant headache had become the new definition of normal for Josh. “Actually,” he added a moment later, pausing to think, “Not that bad really. Almost… good!”

“I’m glad,” Mr Rudd said with a thoughtful nod as he clasped his other hand over Josh’s sandwiching it between his own. He raised it and kissed the boy’s protruding fingers. “Anything… you wanna talk about?” he asked cautiously.

“Anything… you wanna ASK about?” Josh replied cheekily, giving a wry grin.

Mr Rudd sniggered a little, not only at his adorable surrogate son’s attitude, but also at the ease Josh seemed to have around him now. He had made mistakes with Josh early in their relationship, big mistakes – illegal and immoral mistakes in fact – and had come into this new year determined to avoid anymore. It certainly helped that Josh didn’t see any of it as a mistake. The beginning of their relationship had been confusing but helpful, consensual but inappropriate, platonic but affectionate. It had finally settled into a comfortably (and much more appropriate) paternal relationship… but then came the diagnosis!

“Next week!” Mr Rudd replied, answering Josh’s bluntness with his own, “How are you feeling about it?”

“Oh my god, I can’t wait!” Josh said with a grin. “It’s like Christmas has come early, but instead of a new Playstation I get injected with stuff that the doctor has to wear a protective suit just to handle. Now that’s a party!”

Mr Rudd sighed gently as he cocked his head to the side, staring expectantly at the boy.

“It sucks, but… it’s… necessary!” Josh replied, frowning. He took a breath and elaborated, “I’m not gonna sit here and bitch about it, I’m gonna do it and then I’ll do anything else I need to do because FUCK leukaemia. It’s gonna take more than a second cycle of chemo to break me!”

Mr Rudd smiled as he scooched his chair closer to Josh’s bed to slip an arm around him. “I know it is,” he said reassuringly, “But if you WANT to sit here and bitch about, you know I’ll always listen! You don’t need to hide anything from me, son. Not ever!”

A smile flashed across Josh’s face from the mention of the word ‘son’, but it quickly dropped as he pursed his lips for a moment, but flinched as it hurt slightly. “You don’t… have to do that, y’know,” he said shakily. As the man frowned curiously back, he continued, “Call me… son. Y’know… the whole dad thing. I know this,” he gestured to the medical facility around them, “Really isn’t what you signed on for!”

“I know what I signed on for, and it was for looking out for the most wonderful, crazy, weird, adorable boy I’ve ever known!” Mr Rudd said with a gentle head bob. As he saw Josh staring doe-eyed back at him, he smirked a little and added, “But he wasn’t available, so I thought I’d settle for you instead!”

Josh’s jaw dropped in mock shock before he started giggling. “You’re a dick!” he pouted, trying to look annoyed. “But I love you anyway!” he added, but instantly blushed.

“And I love you too, son!” Mr Rudd said back without hesitation, getting an even broader smile back.

Josh let out an excited giggle at the comment before his eyes narrowed slightly and he looked the man up and down. “Ya know… if you REALLY loved me, you’d be okay doing me a little favour!”

Mr Rudd rolled his eyes as he sucked on his teeth for a moment, eyeing the boy suspiciously. “Go on…” he said cautiously.

“Can you arrange for me attend classes? Just virtually, I mean, like we did during Covid,” Josh requested. He blushed a little as he saw the surprised look on Mr Rudd’s face. “It’s just… I’m working hard REALLY hard to keep up and I don’t really wanna miss any more than I have to!”

Mr Rudd nodded thoughtfully for a moment as he gently stroked Josh’s leg comfortingly. “You know how sick you felt during your first cycle. Do you really think you’ll be feeling up to it?” he asked with painfully transparent concern.

Josh pursed his lips slightly as he contemplated it. He really had felt truly awful before, and he knew it was likely to be as bad (or worse) this time, but he remained determined. Shaking his head, he answered honestly, “No, but sometimes… yes. Even if I can just listen, in it’s gotta help, hasn’t it?!” As Mr Rudd looked at him with a cautious scowl, he added, “If I feel too crappy or the doc says I have to stop, then I can just log out, but… I don’t wanna lose the good days because of the bad!”

Mr Rudd smiled sweetly at the sentiment. Nodding gently, he replied, “I’m not making any promises… but I’ll see what I can do!”

“Yay. You’re the best!” Josh said happily.

*****

“Oh my god, I thought we were gonna die!” Mikey exclaimed, shaking his head. As a grin spread across his face at the sight of a somewhat nauseous-looking Nicky, he added, “Let’s do it again!”

“No!” Nicky insisted, glancing back at the rollercoaster they had just escaped from. “You can if ya like but… I’m staying here!” He took a seat on a low wall as he tried to steady his stomach.

“Aww, nah,” Mikey said, shaking his head. “It’s no fun if I don’t get you screaming like a little bitch next to me!” he sniggered as he stood gently kicking the wall with his right foot as he swivelled on the left.

“Hey!” Nicky grumbled, “I was screaming like a man!”

Mikey snorted with laughter, then suddenly looked round as the rollercoaster whizzed by overhead, full of screaming people.

Nicky cocked his head slightly as he looked at his best friend. The past few days had been fun and surprisingly calm, though that was likely because Nicky had gone out of his way to avoid mentioning Josh, Kingswood or anything related to it. Mikey’s mood had gradually improved each day, to the point where his mum even mentioned he seemed to be back to his ‘usual self’, though Nicky had joked it was more appropriate to say his ‘unusual self’!

With the rest of today being spent at the theme park and two more days at home to go, Nicky wasn’t about to go and start any new arguments. For now, he just appreciated the sight of Mikey’s smile, a rare and beautiful sight.

“You don’t scream like a man,” Mikey said, shaking his head as he turned back to Nicky. “You scream like a girl! Screaming like a man is more like the way I do it when I’m having really good sex!”

“Oh my god,” Nicky growled, eyes wide at Mikey’s obliviousness to what passers-by might be overhearing.

“You know, like we USED to do before I fucked it up!” Mikey said with a dismissive shrug.

“I don’t think this is the best time or place for this!” Nicky said, standing up.

“Sorry, forget it,” Mikey said with another shrug. “Let’s go. I got more rides I wanna fit in before we meet your mum and dad!” he said, starting away down the path.

Nicky frowned a little as he walked along beside Mikey, contemplating his comment. Their breaks together did usually involve a lot of sex, but thanks to his ongoing chastity, Nicky hadn’t fucked anyone for weeks. Mikey hadn’t really mentioned it, and they had still done things, mostly in the form of Mikey getting jerked off or Nicky blowing him, anything to keep the other boy from discovering the cock cage. Eventually though, curiosity got the better of him and he asked, “Whadda you mean about you fucking it up?”

<<What did you do? Am I needed??>>

“NO!” Mikey snapped, but as Nicky stopped dead in his tracks, looking at him in shock, he looked awkward as he thought for a second and blurted out, “No, this isn’t the time to talk about it. You’re right!” He looked a little shaken as he said it, almost scared.

Nicky reached out and placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder, then rubbed down to his bicep and back up before he said softly, “I think maybe it is. Come on!” He moved to let his hand slide onto Mikey’s back then urged him away from the main path and into a quieter area where they could talk with relative privacy. “So what did you mean? What d’ya think you’ve fucked up?” he asked softly, cautious of where the question might lead.

Mikey shrugged as he pursed his lips and looked down at the ground, shaking his head a little.

“Mikey, please,” Nicky pleaded. “You know you always feel better when you talk to me about stuff!” he insisted.

“Not this!” Mikey said, barely above a whisper, almost drowned out by the noise of the nearby crowds.

Nicky knew he would probably have to get this started and decided to try an offer. “Look, I’ve got something kinda… big I haven’t told anyone and… I’ll tell you if you talk to me about this!”

Mikey’s eyes flashed mischievously as he looked at Nicky and demanded, “What kinda thing?”

“After you!” Nicky insisted.

“Damn you,” Mikey pouted. He huffed for a moment before he stated, “I messed things up so badly you stopped fucking me!”

Nicky recoiled a little, thrown by the confusing mix of fact and nonsense. “What? No… I admit, I HAVE stopped fucking you, but it’s not cos of anything you’ve done and… I don’t even know how you might have messed up, except for maybe… avoiding someone!”

The air around them felt heavy for a moment. ‘Someone’. They didn’t even need to say the name anymore.

Nicky looked at Mikey, mildly distraught as he stroked his arm again and asked, “Wait, you think I stopped having sex with you because you did something wrong?”

Mikey nodded silently.

Nicky pulled Mikey into a hug and whispered, “I’m so sorry!” before letting go to pull back. “You haven’t done anything wrong. The reason we stopped is… actually the thing I was gonna… tell you about!” As Mikey just stared quizzically, Nicky moved to put his back to the main path, looked round a couple of times then reached down to undo his jeans. Once they were open, he pulled the front of his underwear down to reveal the chastity device. “It’s cos of this!” he stated before quickly putting it away!

Mikey stared, slightly slack-jawed for a moment before he shook his head and said, “I have SO many questions!”

Nicky smiled. He knew people would find out eventually, and it actually felt quite nice that Mikey was the first. The smile suddenly dropped as a question popped into his head and immediately blurted out of his mouth. “Wait, so what did you do that you thought had pissed me off enough to stop fucking you?” he asked bluntly.

Mikey returned to staring down at the ground guiltily as he shook his head.

“Come on, please,” Nicky pleaded.

“I can’t!” Mikey replied, his jaw quivering a little. “It’s really bad!” he said shakily.

<<REALLY bad!>>

“Mikey, you can tell me anything!” Nicky said, nervous about what he was about to (hopefully) hear. “I promise whatever it is, it’ll be okay!”

“No it won’t!” Mikey said, finally looking up at Nicky, his eyes watery. “You’ll hate me! Everyone will!” he sniffled.

<<Hate you? They might arrest you!>>

Nicky pulled Mikey into another hug as he reassured him, “I could never hate you. Please, just tell me!”

<<Don’t do it!>>

Mikey flinched slightly, clearly struggling to put it into words for several moments until he finally managed, “I gave Josh cancer!”

<<Fucking moron!>>

Nicky stared blankly for a few seconds, blinking a few times as he tried to take it in. Eventually he managed to ask, “Umm… what?”

“It was me!” Mikey declared. “I started it! I… I did stuff with him that wore him out and then I… I did the thing where he fell over and got all the bruises and that’s what started it all and it was all me! He’s my friend and I gave him cancer and I know he hates me for it and I know everyone else will too!”

<<You’re not wrong!>>

Nicky continued to stare for a moment, then reached out to place a hand on each of Mikey’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. He might have laughed at the absurdity of the entire thing if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew Mikey absolutely believed everything he had just said. “Mikey… no!” he insisted, shaking his head, “That’s…. that’s just… no!”

“I did!” Mikey said meekly.

“That’s… that’s not how it works, Mikey. Leukaemia doesn’t happen because you get worn out and you get bruises and stuff. They’re symptoms of it, not the cause of it! He didn’t get leukaemia because he was covered in bruises, he was covered in bruises BECAUSE he had leukaemia! Do you…” Nicky stopped as the realisation struck him. “Oh my god, do you… actually believe you really gave him cancer?” he asked in utter dismay.

<<You did!>>

“I…” Mikey started, clearly struggling. “I didn’t… do it?” he asked, barely holding it together.

“Oh, you absolute fucking moron,” Nicky said softly, laughing in utter disbelief as he shook his head. He wrapped himself around the smaller boy who promptly burst into tears. “You didn’t do this, Mikey,” he whispered reassuringly, “You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. I promise!”

<<Huh, maybe you didn’t. Who knew!?>>

<<Yeah, what a mistake, you fucking moron!>>

<<Maybe they won’t hate you after all. That’s nice!>>

Mikey held on tightly for a minute, crying softly before raising a hand to wipe his cheeks.

Nicky reached out and ran his fingers through Mikey’s silky soft ginger hair, brushing it away from his forehead as he asked, “Was this… why you were avoiding him then?”

Mikey sniffed heavily as he nodded. He took a shuddery breath in and said, “So… I’ve been… staying away for no reason?”

<<Oops, we’re back to being hated. Smart move, dumbass!>>

Nicky felt bad doing it, but he nodded in reply.

“Okay, well maybe NOW he’ll hate me!” Mikey said, shaking his head at himself.

<<Nah, it’s Josh, he’ll be fine! Well maybe not fine. He still has cancer and shit!>>

“Look, don’t worry about it,” Nicky said confidently, trying to put Mikey at ease. “When we get back, we can go and see him together and explain. He’ll be fine!” Nicky suggested.

<<See. Told you. Fine! You should really listen to us more often!>>

Mikey nodded, then sighed and said, “You must think I’m so stupid!”

Nicky recoiled, shaking his head sympathetically. “I think you got scared and confused and caught up in your own head. You’re not stupid, Mikey!” Nicky reassured him. “Now come on, we’ve still got things I don’t want to ride!” he said, gesturing back to the path.

“Hey, speaking of things you don’t wanna ride,” Mikey said, reaching out to slap the cock cage through Nicky’s jeans with a snigger, “Tell me EVERYTHING!”

*****

“What can I say, I’m just not that bothered,” James said with a casual shrug as he sat down onto his bed.

“But it’s so nice here!” David insisted, having just been shocked by James’ declaration that he wouldn’t miss his home in the slightest when they headed back to Kingswood on Sunday. “You have a beach and everything!” he added as he sat down beside his boyfriend.

“A Welsh beach!” James said, rolling his eyes. “It’s hardly tropical!”

“Yeah, but… it’s home!” David said, cocking his head as he pouted slightly at the apparent indifference.

James thought for a moment, then stated, “Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.”

David stared for a moment, smiling sweetly. “Did you just quote Pierce Brown at me?” he asked with a wistful grin.

James shrugged as he replied, “It seemed fitting!”

“It’s really sweet,” David chuckled appreciatively that James had actually remembered a writer he liked. He frowned curiously as he asked, “Is that… really how you see it? Kingswood, I mean!” He reached out to run his hand down James’ back.

James shrugged and considered brushing off the point entirely, but he was still doing his best to be more open about his feelings, especially with his new boyfriend. After years of suppressing almost every emotion, he had received a lot of help from his therapist to try and stop. Though their sessions had concluded, he still kept the lessons he had learned in mind at times like this. “It’s… how I see you!” he stated honestly.

David virtually melted at the comment, staring at James lovingly. “Just when I think you can’t get any sweeter!” he said, shaking his head a little as he leaned in to press his lips against James’.

James let out a contented mew as David kissed him, just appreciating the feel of it for a moment before pushing back a little. Reaching out blindly, he took hold of David as the kiss slowly became more voracious, the two boys gradually flopping down to lie together on the bed.

After the kiss finally parted and James took a moment to stare longingly into David’s beautiful brown eyes, he gulped slightly and whispered, “I think it’s time!”

David stared back for a moment then nodded as a smile crept over his face. “Me too,” he replied softly.

After James’ request at the start of the week that the two boys try ‘proper sex’ for the first time (i.e. anal) they had spoken about it briefly a couple of times. It had felt a little awkward and the general feeling of ‘not yet’ had prevailed… until now.

Seeing David look at the door nervously, James shook his head and said matter-of-factly, “They wouldn’t come in. They’re more likely to text!”

“So it’s just us?” David said, smiling but clearly anxious.

James reached out to run his fingers through David’s hair, now bubble-gum pink and much shorter having had his usual half-term cut and colour. “Yeah,” he nodded, “But we don’t have to do this if you’re nervous!”

David scoffed. “If I didn’t do things cos I’m nervous, I’d never do anything,” he replied with a wry grin, “Besides… I want this! A lot!”

“Good!” James said before giving another fierce but brief kiss. It ignited another round of making out, though this time it was accompanied by a lot more movement and giggling as the two boys struggled to strip each other without breaking the embrace. Eventually, both naked and breathless and giggling, they flopped back onto the bed together.

“You’re really cute!” David said dreamily, letting his finger trace along James’ clavicle.

“Takes one to know one,” James said with a smirk before pulling away. “Come on, let’s do it before we psych ourselves out!” he insisted.

“Okay!” David agreed, kneeling up on the bed. He turned away from James as he started getting himself into the position he imagined would be best for it, on all fours. “Will this be okay?” he asked, looking back over his shoulder.

“I was just about to…” James started, but stopped as he looked back too, his position mirroring David’s. “Wait, what are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“Getting… ready for you!” David replied with a heavy frown, “Wait, what are YOU doing?”

“The… same!” James replied, slowly coming to the realisation of what was happening.

“Hold up. Were you… do you want… was I supposed to…” David said, unable to finish a thought.

“I don’t wanna top. I thought you would!” James declared.

“Hey, it was YOUR idea. You stick it in me!” David insisted.

“Oh, what, is that how it works? Whoever suggested it does… that part?” James asked, looking a little shaken by not knowing something for once.

They both turned, kneeling back up as they scowled in frustration and confusion.

“Well… this is annoying!” James pouted.

“I know right,” David agreed, but a smile quickly broke across his face as he reached out to grab James’ semi-hard cock, “But that doesn’t mean this has to go to waste!”

“Oh, Mr Brown… I like the way you think!” James grinned.

“Well, Mr Taylor,” David replied with a broad grin, “Let’s see what else I can do that you might like!”

They both giggled as they flopped back down onto the bed together, ready to play with each other, the problem of anal put aside for now.