Tales from Kingswood - Chapter 29 (Patreon)
Content
Saturday 28 March 2020
FAO All Kingswood Parents and Guardians
Due to the rapidly-worsening situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision has been made to keep the school open at full capacity over the Easter break. Remaining at the school instead of returning home is a decision we ask you to make individually in conjunction with your child/ren.
While we understand a decision to stay at school may have an impact on students and may be disappointing to many, we strongly encourage your consideration on this matter. While infection rates and, sadly, death rates continue to soar, Kingswood remains virus-free and a safe environment. Clubs, activities and events have been organised to keep the students who remain at the school stimulated and entertained, while ensuring a suitable break from more formal school activities.
As advised in our earlier communications, anyone leaving school grounds must, upon their return, undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine period to ensure the school remains free of the virus. Our temporary accommodation building has been modified to house 60 students in single-occupant rooms to allow this to be carried out safely. Steps have also been taken to avoid social isolation during quarantine to maintain the students’ mental wellbeing.
We would request that you complete the form, link below, to indicate whether your child/ren will be remaining at school for the Easter break or returning home.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation.
Stay safe,
Mr Trystan Everett
Kingswood Headmaster
*****
Saturday 4 April 2020
Danny reached under his pillow to turn off his alarm. He usually kept it there for Saturday mornings to minimise the disruption to the rest of dorm, most of whom were happy to sleep in and didn’t take kindly to an early alarm. As he opened his eyes, seeing the first hints of daylight through the uncurtained top windows, his eyes caught on something else – Chris was awake and looking straight at him.
“Morning!” Chris whispered with a smile.
Danny took a breath and exhaled slowly. “Morning,” he replied. Even after a month, it still seemed strange having Chris wake up over in his own bunk rather than beside him, but then it had been a strange month anyway.
The two boys had finally started talking, although in true twelve-year-old style, they specifically didn’t talk about the thing they most needed to. Instead, they were stuck in a constant cycle of banal small talk. Good morning. Good night. How are you? Had a good day? This was the extent of their interactions, and the strain was taking its toll on both of them.
“Want some company at the gym?” Chris asked hopefully. Over the past couple of weeks, they had got up together and walked, mostly in awkward silence, over to the Sports Complex together where Chris went off for his swimming coaching and Danny headed off to work out in the gym. Saturday was one of Chris’ days off from swimming, but Danny rarely took a day off from his own gym routine.
“Nah, it’s okay, Jesse’ll be there anyway,” Danny said dismissively. “I’ll see ya later,” he added as he sat up and shuffled along to the ladder.
Chris watched in silence as Danny donned his gym gear and headed out of the dorm. Once he was gone, Chris climbed down from his own bunk. He considered climbing into bed with Nicky, that was his usual Saturday morning routine, but figured the other boy might not appreciate being woken quite so early, even if it was only for a moment. Instead, he headed out of the dorm, grabbing a t-shirt on the way. Once he was out of the dorm, he casually strolled down the hallway, the quiet slap of his bare feet on the stone floor the only sound echoing around the large, still building.
He had been in the building when it was almost empty before, when he had stayed at school during the first half-term break with only six other students. The Easter break ended up being somewhat different, as the majority of the school had opted to stay, thanks to the out-of-control virus ravaging the world outside Kingswood’s walls. Chris had been glad in many ways to be staying. The rest of the dorm were staying too, and it meant he would get two weeks to spend with them, without the annoying interference of actual classes. It also meant he could continue trying to fix the relationships his own deeds had damaged.
The main negative for him, however, was just how much he missed his siblings. Before returning to school in February he had promised his younger twin brothers, Aidan and Cian, that he would see them again soon. Being just seven, six weeks already sounded way longer than ‘soon’ so when he revealed it would be at least another eight weeks until he came home again, they had been beside themselves.
As he made his way into the Common Room, he let out a heavy sigh, unintentionally signalling his presence. Suddenly, a figure shot up on one of the sofas in front of the TV. “Oh, it’s you,” Kyle said, seeing Chris wander in.
Chris felt a knot in his stomach at the sight of his ex-boyfriend. Despite living in the same building and sharing a third of their classes, it had been surprisingly easy for the two boys to not see each other since their explosive and very public separation. Kyle had been furious when he found out Chris had lied about ending his sexual and physical interactions with Danny and the fact he had found out about it from a live stream of them having sex (that their entire Year had been witness to) added to his public humiliation.
Chris had tried to apologise at the time, but Kyle was, understandably, too incensed to even consider listening. He had dumped Chris on the spot and since then, the boys of dorm 1.04 had rallied around their jilted dormmate to not only keep Chris away, but also make sure the cheating 1.01 boy was as reviled by the school as possible. All in all, it had not been an enjoyable month for Chris and the sad thing was, he knew he deserved it.
“Oh, hi… sorry,” Chris apologised as he saw Kyle sitting alone. “I’ll… go somewhere else!”
“It’s okay,” Kyle said with a slight shrug. A weak smile spread across his face. “It’s kinda like…”
“… That first night!” Chris finished the sentence and smiled. The first time the two boys spoke, the beginning of their relationship really, had been in that very room. Chris had been unable to sleep due to his extreme homesickness while Kyle had been upset over feeling out of place and not yet making any real friends at the school. “Can we… talk?” he asked hopefully.
Kyle nodded, then watched silently as Chris approached, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa.
“So… how’ve you been?” Chris asked cautiously.
“How’ve I been? That’s… what you’re opening with?” Kyle asked, shaking his head. “Chris, I’m not some shrivelled old aunt you only see at weddings and funerals!”
Chris frowned and shook his head. “Erm… how’s your cock?” he asked slightly sarcastically. “I dunno. What am I meant to say? I’ve never had an ex-boyfriend before!”
Kyle recoiled a little at the comment. With a slight sigh he said, “I know we broke up, I just never really thought of you as an ‘ex-boyfriend’ before!”
“Yeah, weird, isn’t it!” Chris said with a sympathetic head bob.
“No, it sucks!” Kyle said angrily. “And so do you!” He paused again. “And so does Danny!”
“You know it’s not Danny’s fault, right?” Chris asked.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Of COURSE Danny’s your first thought. He always is!”
“Am I supposed to apologise for having a friend?” Chris asked pointedly.
“If Danny was just a friend, we’d still be together!” Kyle said back just as sharply.
Chris tried to reply, but he had nothing. He rubbed his face with his hands and nodded reluctantly. “You’re right. Completely.”
“Oh, I thought we were arguing!” Kyle said, looking almost disappointed.
“Hard to argue when you both agree who the dick is!” Chris conceded. Kyle looked a little taken aback, so he added, “I know it doesn’t fix things and it doesn’t undo how I hurt you, but I really am sorry!”
“Thanks,” Kyle said with a meek smile. “If… and I’m not saying I do… but IF I wanted us to get back together… would you do it?”
Chris looked thoroughly conflicted as he considered the question.
“And I mean with no rules. Like, sleep with who you want, all of that, be like it was at the start,” Kyle elaborated.
Chris still looked unsure; his mouth open but not speaking.
“It’s okay to say no,” Kyle said with a smile. “But I guess you don’t really need to now!”
Chris sighed and started, “Kyle, I’m…”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. I already know you’re sorry!” Kyle insisted. “And I understand!”
“I don’t regret it,” Chris said, then realised how it sounded. “Dating you, I mean. Obviously I regret the ending, but going out with you was… well… I loved it and I love YOU!”
“Look, I’m not ready to forgive you. I might never be, but… I miss my friends. The guys in my dorm have been great and we’re… ya know… doing a bit better than before…”
“You’re welcome!” Chris said with a cheesy grin. The death stare he got back made him shrink into himself a little. “Okay, too soon to joke!” he grimaced.
“Yeah, just a bit!” Kyle said sharply, shaking his head. “But… I want to be able to joke and I want to be able to… to be in the same room as my friends and not want to punch them.”
“You can punch me if you want. Nobody’d blame you. I think most people would be pretty happy about it actually!” Chris said with a slight shrug.
Kyle shook his head. “No, that’s not me,” he said meekly. “And I hate feeling like this. I don’t wanna spend the next six years here avoiding you and Danny and being angry at you both.”
“Again, really not Danny’s fault!” Chris insisted, determined to rightfully shoulder all the blame.
“Yeah, I know, I just… I still feel angry at him but it doesn’t feel fair to… to tell him that while he’s dealing with… ya know… everything. But I do miss him… and you… and the guys in your dorm. I’m not saying it’ll happen today, but… I’d really like it if we could go back to being friends… eventually!” Kyle explained.
“I’d really like that and I know the others would too. We’re already down one member, we need our ninth back!” Chris said with a smile.
Kyle chuckled. “I look forward to it,” he said sincerely. “Although you’re back up to eight today if I’ve kept count right!”
“Yeah,” Chris said happily. “Josh gets out of Covid jail today!”
“Covid jail. Ha! I like it!” Kyle chuckled.
“Thank you,” Chris said softly. As Kyle frowned at him a little, he said, “I did something really shitty and I hurt two of the people I love the most in the world and I’d understand if you just… hated me forever. So… thanks for… well, not!”
Kyle nodded back solemnly. “Yeah, you’re a dick,” he said sternly, then sighed softly and said, “But you are SO hard to hate!”
“Sadly that’s the nicest thing I’ll probably hear today,” Chris chuckled.
*****
“Can’t they just let you out now?” Rob asked as he stood in the visitors room of the Temp Building.
Rob, Mikey, Nicky, James and Chris had come over hoping to escort Josh back to dorm 1.01 but had been greeted by the news that he was not yet free to go. Each of them had been over a few times during Josh’s incarceration, mostly one-at-a-time at Josh’s request so he could apologise to them personally for the things he had said to them before half-term. While Danny hadn’t revealed much about what happened up on the roof, the one thing he had made clear to the whole dorm was that Josh’s words had not been his own that day.
“Yeah, it’s been fourteen days and you’re not dead,” Mikey said bluntly.
“Mikey!” Rob hissed, eyebrows raised.
“What’s his problem?” Josh asked from the other side of the screen.
“I used the ‘d’ word!” Mikey said, rolling his eyes.
“Oh,” Josh sighed. “I guess I’d best get used to that! I mean, the whole school knows. I’m probably spending the rest of my time here being called ‘suicide kid’ or ‘abuse boy’ or ‘the Kingswood jumper!’ or whatever!”
Mikey laughed and received a punch in the arm from Rob. “What? The Kingswood Jumper was funny!” he insisted, getting a smile from Josh.
“You’re not helping!” Rob growled.
“I’m not trying to!” Mikey said with a dismissive shrug.
“See? That!” Josh said, pointing over at Mikey. “That’s what I want. Normal!”
“That ain’t normal!” Nicky said, gesturing to Mikey and getting a laugh from the others. He gave a playful wink to Mikey who smiled back reluctantly.
“No, I mean the way he’s acting!” Josh insisted. “I mean, I really appreciate how much time you’ve all spent visiting me,” he looked round at the five boys on the opposite side of the screen, then mumbled, “Those of you that came, anyway!”
The passive-aggressive comment was clearly aimed at Danny who was the only member of the dorm not to have visited. Even David, who had only video called for most of the quarantine due to his newfound fear of going outside had managed to visit in person the previous day.
“Danny’s… busy!” Chris lied. He wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to speak for him. Were they even close enough for him to do that anymore? He wasn’t sure, but defending him was pure instinct.
“Mmm-huh,” Josh hummed, incredulously. He definitely felt like Danny was avoiding him and he could understand why. Danny was the only other person who knew everything he had gone through. After Josh’s near-suicide, he had been taken away immediately for his own protection while his brothers were arrested and assessed for any further risk of self-harm. He had ended up having to talk to Doctors, social workers and the police about everything his brothers had put him through, though he had held back some of the worst parts. Sadly, Danny had not been spared all the unpleasant details. Looking over at his friends, Josh pouted a little and said, “But yeah, I like that you came, and you’ve all been really nice and… supportive… so please don’t take this is me being ungrateful, but… you’re also treating me like a victim!”
“Except me!” Mikey said proudly. “I’m still treating you like the same old twat as ever!”
“And I appreciate it, dickface!” Josh said with a chuckle, then sighed again and gestured in the direction of the Home Building, “It’s bad enough that everybody knows what I did and there’s 200 guys in there who’re gonna be… gossiping or… laughing at me or… acting like I’m some fragile little victim who’ll break if they say the wrong thing. I don’t want that from you guys too!” The others all looked a bit sheepish. “You know they haven’t even put me back in chastity yet because they’re being ‘sensitive to what I’ve been through’!” He rolled his eyes.
“Lucky you. Sam got me right back in mine!” Rob said grumpily. “And threatened to report me or lock it permanently if I ever took it off again! He only didn’t report me this time because he thought I’d ‘been though enough’ already!”
“Yeah, I hear that a lot too,” Josh chuckled. “I’d love to be back in, just to feel like normal again!” he insisted with a shrug. “Turns out attempted suicide lets you get away with a LOT of things. I’ll have to remember that next time I do bad on a test!”
Everyone stared at Josh in horror.
“Too soon?” Josh asked, cringing a little.
“Always!” Rob scowled. “Anyway,” he said, desperate to lighten the mood, “Back to my original question. Why can’t they just let you go now?”
“Doc needs to examine me, check my temperature, make sure I don’t have the plague or whatever!” Josh huffed. “So I’ll be out later this afternoon. Gives you time to warn everyone so they can practice their whispering and pointing!”
Rob frowned at the comment. It was clearly bothering Josh what the rest of the school would think of him, but an idea quickly popped into his head.
*****
Chris stood in the shower cubicle with the water running and door wide open. With the morning’s clubs well underway, the room wasn’t busy, but he still heard other moving around in the distance. He heard someone approach, desperately hoping they would see him and accept the obvious invitation for company.
The person who appeared was Steven, from dorm 1.04. As the boy looked at Chris, he scowled and shook his head. “Oh, hey cheater!” he said sharply before moving on to a different cubicle.
Chris felt like he could have cried and very nearly closed the cubicle door but decided to give it just a little longer. Thankfully, less than a minute later, two other boys walked past, but stopped and stepped back as they saw the occupied but open cubicle.
While Chris didn’t know the boys’ names, he knew they were Year 8s as he had often seen them passing his dorm, heading to either 1.05 or 1.06.
“Looking for some company?” the first asked.
Chris just nodded. The two Year 8s looked at each other for a moment, as if silently deciding who would join the younger boy. “Room for you both, if you like!” he said with a grin.
“I’ll pass. I don’t like cheaters!” the second boy said, shaking his head.
“Oh! That’s him!” the first said, nodding. He shrugged and said, “I don’t care. I’ve got low standards!”
“Fair enough, catch ya later,” the second boy said as he walked away.
“Chris, right?” the older boy asked as he stepped into the cubicle, closing the door behind him. Getting a nod in response, he added, “I’m Caleb.”
“Hi,” Chris said, a little deflated. “I’m glad your standards are low enough,” he pouted.
Caleb smirked. “Sorry ‘bout that. Just didn’t want a reputation, that’s all,” he explained. “But don’t worry about it. This’ll pass!”
“It will?” Chris asked, sounding unconvinced.
“Hnnh, yeah. There’s a kind of order to things here,” Caleb went on. “You know how you get teased a bit during a punishment, but nobody really lingers on it, it’s a bit like that. People are gonna be pissy with you for a while, but they move on eventually.”
Chris smiled, almost in tears. The older boy smiled sweetly and held out his arms. Chris happily leaned into them, their naked torsos pressing together. They hugged for a few moments and as they parted Chris said softly, “Thanks, I needed that!”
“The advice or the hug?” Caleb asked with a grin.
“Both!” Chris chuckled.
“So… erm… is there anything else you need?” Caleb asked, looking the boy up and down.
“I’m sure I can think of something,” Chris grinned, reaching out to remove Caleb’s towel. As he saw the older boy’s erection, he said cheekily, “Oh, looks like you need it too!”
“Oh yes!” Caleb smirked. “Be my guest!” he gestured to his own cock.
Chris wasted no time in dropping to his knees. Looking up at the friendly Year 8 he poked out his tongue and teased the boy’s balls a moment before letting it slide up the length of his dick. As he reached the head, he opened his mouth and took it between his lips.
“Ugh, yeah,” Caleb moaned happily as Chris knelt sucking his dick. “I can see how you gut two guys with skills like that!” he teased. The momentary feeling of teeth gently pressing into his cock caused a quick yelp followed by, “Okay, okay, no jokes, sorry!”
With Caleb quiet again, Chris continued his sucking. Although he knew the favour was about to be returned, he couldn’t keep his hand from his own dick too. Within a few minutes, Caleb’s legs were wobbling as he spurted his load into Chris’ mouth. Barely even waiting for his own orgasm to finish, he pulled the boy to his feet and dropped down, taking the smaller dick into his mouth.
“Oh fuck,” Chris gasped, happy to get his dick back in someone’s mouth. It had been far too long. As he felt a tightness growing in his balls, he regretted the stroking he had done while sucking as it seemed set to cut the pleasurable blow job short. “Unnh, I’m cumming,” he moaned, disappointed at how quickly it had happened.
Caleb didn’t seem to mind, happily stroking Chris dick as he pulled it from his mouth, letting the boy cum on his face. “Ha, nice load for a Year 7!” Caleb said with a smirk.
“Thanks,” Chris blushed a little as Caleb stood up, sticking his face under the shower to wash the load off.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the excess water, Caleb held out his arms again. “Come here,” he said softly.
“Thanks,” Chris repeated as he let the older boy hold him for a little longer. He would have preferred it to be Danny, or Kyle or maybe even Nicky, but this would do for now.
*****
Danny sat on the sofa in Mr Trent’s apartment, waiting for the latest ‘meeting’ to start. They had been talking every couple of days since ‘the incident’ as Mr Trent had taken to calling it. Danny was getting increasingly frustrated about the time he was spending away from things he actually enjoyed just so they could ‘talk about things’.
“So I hear you never found the time to go and visit Josh during his quarantine,” Mr Trent said before pausing to see how Danny would react. When he didn’t say anything after several seconds of silence, he prompted, “Can we talk about that?”
“Okay,” Danny said, crossing his arms moodily. “Whoever told you needs to mind their own business! Next question!”
“Danny,” the man said softly, tilting his head.
Danny huffed and rolled his eyes. “What? I’ve been busy, that’s all. In case you didn’t notice, I’ve been spending a lot of time in pointless meetings!” he said moodily.
“Do you think talking about the way you feel is pointless?” Mr Trent asked, sitting back in his seat.
“It is when I’ve been over it like, a MILLION times already!” Danny said, shaking his head.
“Mmm-huh,” the teacher hummed. “Well you know he’ll be back in the dorm today. How do you feel about that?”
Danny just shrugged and remained silent.
“Not worried at all?” Mr Trent probed.
“About what? He’s been my roommate for seven months already, it’s not exactly new!” Danny insisted.
“That’s true,” Mr Trent agreed. “But sometimes relationships can change. You’ve both been through a traumatic experience, Danny, but you’ve also SHARED a traumatic experience. That’s no small thing!” When Danny remained silent, he added, “Danny, you know we’re just worried about you. We want you to be okay and… it really doesn’t seem like you are!”
Danny let out a gentle sigh. “You all keep saying that, but I’m fine. Between you and Joseph and Dr Arkwright and my parents why does nobody believe me when I say I’m fine? Nothing even happened to me. It happened to Josh, shouldn’t you be worrying about him?”
“Danny, something DID happen to you. Something you handled… heroically!” Mr Trent insisted.
“Why do people keep saying that?” Danny snapped angrily. “It was… it was just… a pure fluke that I found him and… and after that I just… got lucky. That’s all. Not heroic. Lucky! Okay!”
Mr Trent smiled meekly as he nodded a little. “Danny, I can’t even begin to imagine how you’re feeling, I can only tell you how things look from my side. Is it okay if I do that?” he asked quietly.
“Like I have a choice,” Danny growled, but as the teacher just looked at him in silent patience, he sighed again and said, “Okay, go ahead!”
“I hear what you’re saying about just feeling lucky, but I know very few people who could have acted to calmly and so compassionately in the situation you found yourself in. I know that what matters is how YOU feel about it, not anyone else, but please… please believe me when I say you did an amazing thing that not many people could do. Yes, it was a scary thing, and yes, there probably WAS some luck in there too, but you need to give yourself a little credit for what you did, Danny,” the teacher explained. “You are a remarkable young man and what you did made me feel inordinately proud, so you’re perfectly entitled to feel like you’re just lucky and not a hero, but you’re a hero to me, okay?”
Danny stared back for a moment and reluctantly nodded. Half an hour later, after more talking that felt so utterly pointless, Danny was finally free to leave. He had already missed most of football practice and it was too late to join now so he just wandered back towards the dorm. As he went inside, he found Chris and Nicky sat together, playing their guitars. He stopped for a moment, listening to Chris sing, though Nicky soon spotted him which prompted the stage-shy boy to stop, with Chris soon following.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,” Danny said as he headed for his bunk.
Chris put down his guitar and headed to intercept Danny, grinning at him.
“What?” Danny asked, a little curt.
“I… spoke to Kyle this morning,” Chris reported. “We… I dunno, I guess we didn’t really make up, but… we’re getting there!”
“Good for you!” Danny said flatly.
“He also said he’s not mad at you. I made sure he knows everything was my fault!” Chris explained.
“Good. It was!” Danny said with a slight scowl.
Chris flinched a little at the directness of the comment, but said, “He’s gonna talk to you next time he gets the chance. Maybe see if you wanna hang out.”
“That’ll be nice,” Danny said, actually pleased at the thought of reconnecting with his friend. While he didn’t really have the energy, or inclination, to reach out to the other boy, he certainly wouldn’t turn down some time with him.
“I thought… maybe… we could too!” Chris suggested gingerly.
“Oh, you mean… because you fixed a tiny bit of the damage you did to one of my closest friendships?” Danny asked. “I should just… forget the fact you lied to me and turned me into a guy who sleeps with a friend’s boyfriend behind their back? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well… no, but… I…” Chris stuttered.
“You what?” Danny asked coldly. “You found some magical way to let me EVER trust you again, cos if so, I’d LOVE to hear it!”
Chris tried to speak back, but as he opened his mouth no words came out. He just shook his head, looking tearful then ran out of the dorm.
“Bit harsh, don’t you think?” Nicky called out, having heard the entire exchange.
“Bit nosey, don’t you think?” Danny said back sharply.
Nicky winced a little, worried he was heading for an argument that he was sure he couldn’t handle. He stood and headed towards Danny. “You know, I spent a lot of time with Mikey during lockdown… and since then too, actually!” he said, smiling a little at the new friendship.
“Yeah, so?” Danny asked, not seeing the point.
“He talked about you a lot. I actually think he’s got a bit of a crush on you, but that’s not my point,” Nicky said, deliberately throwing in the flattering info to knock Danny a little off guard. “But one of the things he talked about was how you helped him look at the way he acts sometimes.”
Danny didn’t reply, he just looked a little thoughtful, curious about where Nicky was taking this.
“You know what he said one of the most effective things you did was?” Nicky asked.
“Ugh, if this is a speech about the ‘power of love’ or whatever, I will vomit literally in your face!” Danny said derisively.
“No, it’s not. Quite the opposite!” Nicky said. He suddenly raised his hand and flicked Danny’s ear… hard!
“Ah!” he yelped out, rubbing his ear. “Ya bitch!” he scowled.
“You’re acting like a dick!” Nicky said bluntly. “And I believe that was how you ‘encouraged’ Mikey to rethink some of his reactions, right?”
Danny continued rubbing his ear, suddenly feeling almost guilty for all the times he had done it to Mikey. “So you’re just gonna… hurt me into being nice?” he asked angrily.
Nicky ignored the question and said, “Danny, I know you’re going through something, and I know you need to deal with it however works for you, but… honestly, you’re scaring me!”
“I’m not that bad!” Danny mumbled.
“No, I don’t mean scary like a Mikey tantrum, I mean scary like…” Nicky started, then paused, wondering if what he was about to say was too much. He took a breath and went on, “Scary like finding out someone I care about is on the roof!” Nicky said, his eyes watery.
The words hung heavily in the air for several moments.
“I’m not… I mean… I wouldn’t…” Danny stuttered.
“No, you wouldn’t,” Nicky said. “And neither would Josh… until he did!”
Danny felt the words cut deep. He wanted to shout back at the other boy, tell him he was being stupid, or mean or just plain wrong, but he couldn’t. He just looked pained. “I don’t know what to do!” Danny said, weakly.
“You want my advice?” Nicky asked. When Danny nodded, he said, “As someone who recently got lied to by someone I love, believe when I say figuring out a way to forgive is a good first step!”
“You’ve forgiven Will?” Danny asked, surprised.
“Fuck no!” Nicky said sharply. “But… I’m working on it. I don’t want my anger at Will to fuck up things with everyone else I care about!”
Danny sighed as he looked round at the door. “I have to find Chris, don’t I?”
“Or you can stay here and I’ll flick your ear again,” Nicky said with a wicked grin. He raised his hand, finger poised. “It’s strangely satisfying!”
“And I’m going!” Danny said, rushing for the door with his ears covered.
*****
Andy couldn’t help but smile at the request he had just received. Mentoring Mikey was every bit the challenge he had expected it to be when he met the boy, but the bluntness of ‘Please finger me, I need to cum!’ was a bizarre sign of actual progress. Back in their first few months together, when the younger boy had been in chastity and Andy literally held the keys to his cock, he had established a routine before Mikey would be allowed any kind of release.
The first step of the routine was Mikey admitting he enjoyed the sexual things they were doing. When he came to the school, Mikey ‘hated’ everything, or at least that was the attitude he conveyed. Andy had quickly seen through it. Whether Mikey thought hating everything was ‘cool’ or he had simply learned over the years that no good came of admitting what he liked, he had seemed utterly unable to express actual enjoyment.
Now, seven months on from when they first started their interactions, Mikey was not only willing to admit the things he liked, but he now felt confident enough to actually ask for it.
The second and third steps of the routine still required prompting though. Step two was making the boy admit something about himself that he liked, a step designed to tackle his generally negative attitude towards himself. “And what you like about yourself today is…” the older boy prompted.
Mikey didn’t even need to hesitate today. “Josh said he likes the way I don’t treat him like a victim!” he said proudly.
“That’s really cool,” Andy said happily. “And doesn’t surprise me at all!” Mikey giggled shyly.
The third step was a slight mix of the other two, making Mikey admit something he liked about somebody else. That step was intended to help the often-argumentative boy understand he did actually like the people around him, contrary to what he used to insist. “And something you like about somebody else?” the mentor asked. He quickly added, “And let’s make it about someone other than Nicky… I get it, you like him!”
Mikey blushed, then thought for a moment. “David,” Mikey said, “From my dorm,” he clarified.
Andy nodded. By now he knew all the boys from 1.01, both from actually meeting them and from the way Mikey talked about them all so often.
“He’s really smart, but… I dunno, he’s… brave!” Mikey explained. “I don’t know if I’m meant to tell you about this cos it’s private, but I figured what we say to each other is confidential, right?” Andy nodded, so Mikey continued. “Well he got this thing, this… head thing… ugh, I’m not explaining it right. Like a…”
“Mental health thing?” Andy offered.
“Yes!” Mikey said, nodding emphatically. “That’s how they said it! It’s called… acrophobia or something! I dunno exactly, but… it kinda means he really freaks out if he tries to do certain things, like… going out and stuff but when he found out he told us all about it. I think I woulda been scared to say anything to anyone, but he just came out and told us and explained what it is and said how it affected him.” Mikey began to blush a little again. “That probably sounds stupid, but… I dunno, it kinda… seemed brave to me.”
Andy smiled and nodded. “It doesn’t sound stupid at all. He does sound brave, and I think it’s really cool that you see that!”
Mikey smiled, paused a moment and said, “So… is it finger time?”
“Go on then,” Andy chuckled. “Get your kit off!” As Mikey began to strip, the older boy asked, “If you like this so much, why don’t you ask anyone else to do it? I mean, it sounds like you and Nicky are pretty tight now!”
“He might think it’s weird!” Mikey said nervously as he dropped his t-shirt to the ground. “Or think I want him to put his dick in me and he’s waaaaaay too big for that!”
“Well if he wants to do something you don’t, you just say no!” Andy explained. “As for thinking it’s weird, why would he? I mean, from what you told me you’ve already done with him, this doesn’t seem too crazy!” He smirked, remembering how excited Mikey had been after explaining how he and Nicky had, in his words, ‘stuck our tongues in each other’s butts’.
Mikey just gave a dismissive shrug.
“Or do you think this is just you being scared to admit what you want again?” Andy asked. “What would David do?”
Mikey scowled as he stepped out of his underwear. “No fair using my own words against me!” he pouted.
“Just think about it. Sharing your imaginary friend stuff worked out well, right?” Andy asked, moving onto the sofa and pulling Mikey to sit beside him.
“Yeah, I s’pose,” Mikey agreed, the nestled in beside the older boy while one arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other reached down between his legs which he parted eagerly. “Mmmmyeah,” he mewed happily as Andy’s fingers circled his hole teasingly.
Andy let the arm around Mikey’s shoulder bend down onto his chest, playfully teasing the boy’s nipple as he pulled his other hand back up, placed two fingers to Mikey’s lips and whispered, “Suck ‘em!”
Mikey opened his mouth as he closed his eyes, losing himself in the moment. He happily sucked away on Andy’s fingers, ensuring when they left his mouth they were soaked with saliva to help ease what he knew was coming next.
Andy lowered his hand again, gently pushing one finger into the boy’s hole for a few seconds before pulling out and re-entering with two digits. As the naked boy in his arms let out a pleasured, shuddery breath, he leaned in close and began to nibble at his ear lobe.
Mikey was in heaven, the fingers in his ass teasing his prostate, his nipple being playfully squeezed and stroked and the mouth making love to his ear. His own hands flailed slightly, grasping for something unknown. One found its way to tease his other nipple while the other raised to reach up and run through his mentor’s hair.
A small dribble of precum trickled down the short shaft of Mikey’s cock as the pleasure continued to grow, his quiet mews of pleasure slowly growing into delighted moans. “Make me cum. Please!” Mikey begged.
They both knew that with a little more time Andy could make the boy cum without even touching his cock. They had done it plenty of times before, but sometimes the need for release was too great and Mikey needed action sooner, so the teen released Mikey’s nipple and shuffled round a little to allow the hand to reach down further. He had barely given the straining tool a dozen strokes when he began to shoot.
Mikey kept his eyes closed as he covered his stomach with spunk and slowly began to come down from his orgasmic high. Sighing contentedly, he shifted round so his head was on the older boy’s lap, his legs dangling over the arm of the sofa.
“Andy, what turns you on?” Mikey asked casually.
“Naked boys who like getting fingered,” Andy sniggered, letting his hand casually caress Mikey’s bare chest.
“Ha ha,” Mikey said flatly. “I’m serious, what stuff are you into?”
Andy exhaled slowly as he pondered the question. “Well… I love wanking, but, ya know, who doesn’t!”
“Word!” Mikey smirked, raising a fist and getting a bump.
“But I guess all the usual stuff. Blow jobs, hand jobs, that sorta stuff. I love fingering,” Andy explained.
“I noticed!” Mikey chuckled.
“Front AND back!” Andy added.
“Front?” Mikey repeated, frowning, then caught on. “Oh, girls… eww!”
“Hey, don’t be bi-phobic. Bisexual people exist, ya know!” Andy scolded the boy playfully, knowing he didn’t actually mean it harmfully.
“Is there anything else you’re into?” Mikey probed. “Anything… weird?”
Andy smirked. “I feel like you’re leading this somewhere, but… I guess I kinda like feet, that’s not totally normal I suppose!”
“So would that include… socks?” Mikey asked. “And maybe… underwear?”
Andy thought for a moment as Mikey stared up at him. “Hmm, not really. I mean, I like guys in nice underwear… or girls in nice underwear,” he said thoughtfully, then sniggered a little as he said, “Or guys in nice girls’ underwear, which I suppose is kinda up there on the weirdness scale!”
“So how about if… someone’s… not wearing it?” Mikey asked nervously. “But maybe… HAS worn it?”
“Oh, used underwear! I’m with ya!” Andy nodded. “Nah, not really my thing. Why?” he asked, then grinned and added, “Wait are you… Mikey, are you into used pants?”
“No!” Mikey pouted, quickly sitting up and turning away, arms folded.
“Hey, you know I don’t judge. You can tell me anything, mister, you know that!” Andy said, rubbing the boy’s smooth back.
Mikey relaxed a little and turned but avoided eye contact. “I don’t know if I’m into it,” he started, “But a few weeks back, Rob was… talking about laundry duty and… he mentioned… ya know, used… things!”
“And it turned you on?” Andy asked, sitting forward to put an arm around him again.
Mikey nodded.
Andy smiled and kissed the boy gently on the forehead. “Well maybe that’s something you need to look into exploring. No shame in it. If you like it… go for it!”
*****
When Danny left the dorm to find Chris, he had been pretty sure he knew where he would be. A quick walk through the school’s gardens and he had found he was spot-on when he spotted Chris sat on the edge of a small pond, playfully tapping his finger on the surface and watching the ripples radiate out.
“Thought you’d be here,” Danny said a little sheepishly as he approached.
“Have you come to shout at me some more?” Chris asked sadly.
“No,” Danny said, shaking his head as he took a seat beside the pond a few feet away from Chris. “And I’m sorry for what I said in the dorm. I…” he paused, frowning. “I’m not gonna say I didn’t mean it, but maybe I didn’t mean… to be so harsh about it!”
Chris shrugged. “It’s okay, I know I screwed up bad,” he said meekly.
“You really did,” Danny agreed, getting a slight whimper from the other boy. “But that doesn’t mean I get to keep… kicking you when you’re down!”
“I just want us to be friends again!” Chris pleaded.
Danny sighed. “We’re still friends,” he said, shaking his head. “Like we said, this is forever… no matter how fucking stupid you are…”
“Very. Just to be clear. Very fucking stupid, that’s how stupid I am!” Chris said with a hint of a smile.
“Mmm-huh,” Danny hummed in agreement. “I’m just mad at you, that’s all. It’ll pass. Just… keep giving me time… and space!”
“I’ll give you a whole continuum if that’s what it takes,” Chris said with a cheesy grin.
Danny chuckled. “You’re so weird! But thanks!” He reached out and took Chris’ hand. “We’ll be okay… eventually!”
“You promise?” Chris asked hopefully.
Danny gave a bemused smile as he shook his head and said, “BFFs, right?”
Chris grinned and leaned forward to pull Danny into a hug, then quickly let go and said, “Sorry, am I… still allowed to hug?”
“Like anyone could ever stop you!” Danny chuckled.
They sat in silence for several moments.
“Danny, are you… okay?” Chris asked nervously.
Danny growled and rolled his eyes.
“Sorry, I know you’re probably sick of hearing that, but… you did something scary. Amazing, but fucking scary and because of how stupid I was, I wasn’t there when you probably needed me the most and now I’m worried you’re… hurt and I really hope I’m not too late to help!”
Danny was annoyed about rehashing the same conversation yet again, but Chris’ concern was so genuine he couldn’t find it in himself to lash out back at him. Instead he just shrugged and said, “I’ll be okay… eventually!” He smiled a little at his repetition.
“You promise?” Chris repeated, grinning back.
Danny just nodded gently then stood up and said, “Come on, we should go. Josh’ll be getting out any time now!”
“You’re coming?” Chris asked as he stood too.
Danny just shrugged. “I think I need to,” he sighed.
Chris smiled. Even being so separated from his friend as he had been, it was clear how much the incident had affected Danny, but this was… well, Chris wasn’t sure what it was, but it at least felt like a move in the right direction. As they walked along, Chris chattered away about their surroundings, very much in love with the beautiful gardens and wanting to just fill the silence with a little positivity.
As Danny listened his mind wandered onto what had happened with Josh and he began to form an idea which he filed away in the back of his mind for another time.
*****
“Hey, you’ve got a bit of a crowd building. Don’t wanna keep them waiting!” Mr Trent said as he stood in the doorway to the room Josh had lived in for the last fortnight.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” Josh said as he sat on his bed, staring down at his hands.
“Course you can!” Rob said reassuringly from beside him.
“But what’s everyone gonna say?” Josh asked, looking from his best friend to the teacher and back. “Like, for the older guys, two of their classmates are gone cos of me and everyone else is just gonna think I’m some… I dunno, some sad loser who just wanted attention or something.”
“Nobody thinks any of that!” Mr Trent insisted.
“It’s okay Sir, I’ve got this,” Rob said with a grin.
The teacher frowned, unsure whether it was okay to leave such a sensitive moment to a boy so young, but Rob looked confident, so he just gave a nod.
“You said this morning you were worried about people laughing at you and stuff like that, so I… kinda did something…” Rob said, smiling sincerely. He pulled out his phone, tapped a few buttons and Josh’s phone vibrated.
Josh pulled his own phone out, curious. As he opened it, he saw Rob had forwarded him a message that read, [Hey Josh, just wanted to say I’m glad you’re okay and looking forward to having you back with us. Dominic Morgan, Year 8]. “Huh, that’s nice,” Josh said meekly.
“And this,” Rob said. He sent another message.
[Josh, you’re a brave kid and if you ever need help, just call. Jesse Wheeler, Year 13] the message read.
Josh smiled but shrugged. “I don’t… know these guys!” he said, a little confused.
“Here, look,” Rob said, handing over his own phone.
Josh looked and found another message, and another, and another. “I don’t… what is this?” he asked.
“You were right about one thing you said earlier. Everybody knows what happened, at least a little bit anyway. All I did was send out one little message saying you were returning to the school today and… the messages just started coming in!” Rob explained. “So what you’ve got there… are nearly 300 messages from… teachers, students, school staff, all saying they’ve got your back!”
Josh just stared down at the phone, scrolling through message after message. “This is… incredible!” he said, looking at Rob a little tearfully.
“No, better,” Rob said proudly. “This is Kingswood!”
Josh grabbed his best friend in a tight hug, took a deep breath and jumped to his feet. Looking at Mr Trent, he said, “Come on, can’t keep my peeps waiting!” then marched out the door.
The teacher smiled as Josh walked past him then looked over at Rob who was following. Wiping a tear from his eye, he nodded and said, “That’s an amazing thing, you did!”
“He deserves it!” Rob said happily.
After a short walk down the corridor, Josh reached the main doors and saw the other boys all gathered. It was mostly the residents of 1.01, but a few others had come along to celebrate his freedom too. The moment he stepped out, he found himself mobbed in a group hug, with even Mikey willingly showing some affection, with Rob joining in from behind as he followed out.
When the crowd eventually parted, Josh found himself facing Danny who was a few paces away.
“Hi,” Josh said gingerly as a hush dropped over the others, some of whom began heading back to the Home Building to avoid the awkwardness.
“Hi,” Danny said back. “Sorry I didn’t… whatever,” he shrugged.
“It’s cool, I get it,” Josh nodded back, just glad to see him.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Danny said honestly.
“Thanks. So am I!” Josh grinned. “Maybe we should…” He never got to finish the sentence as Danny quickly turned and started heading back to the Home Building. Josh sighed, visibly deflating as he watched the other boy leave. He almost wished Danny had just continued to avoid him. At least then he could tell himself things weren’t completely broken between them.
Seeing the awkward moment, Rob jumped in, throwing an arm around Josh’s shoulders. “Come on, we need you back in the dorm! It is WAY too quiet without you!”
The others rushed in again, happily escorting Josh home.
*****
It had been a while since lights out and Danny lay awake, hands resting behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Having Josh back was… strange. He was genuinely happy Josh was back and seemed to be doing okay. Better than okay, he seemed positively giddy. It was just hard to see him around. Hard to shake the thought of what he had been through. Hard to see him and not remember how he looked as he stood on the ledge. Hard to think about anything other than the abject fear he had felt at the prospect of watching someone he cared about die. At least now that the lights were out, Danny didn’t have to see him, he could almost pretend he wasn’t there and think about something else.
Instead Danny just lay thinking about the day, glad to have made some progress with Chris. He had even bumped into Kyle later in the day. While things had been awkward, they had both established there was no real problem, or at least nothing insurmountable between them. All Kyle said he wanted was some space and Danny could definitely sympathise, having spent the day feeling he had none himself.
As he lay mulling it all over, he heard his phone vibrate. He reached over and grabbed it, already suspecting he might know who it was. As he opened up the message, he found it consisted of nothing but a toilet emoji and a question mark. He shook his head, annoyed by the fact he understood what was being asked and the fact he knew how we was going to reply. He sent back a thumbs-up then quietly crept out of bed.
As he reached the ground, he considered grabbing more clothes to put on, but decided it would be even more of a thrill to creep through the building in nothing but his boxers. He poked his head out the door and listened for a moment. Hearing no sign of movement, he slipped out and quickly padded his way along to the stairs leading to the second floor.
He crept up the stairs, pausing near the top to listen again. With a later lights-out, the second-floor dorms hadn’t been dark for as long the ones on Danny’s floor, so there was a much greater chance of people still being around, but thankfully it remained silent. A quick dash along the hallway then round the corner and he found himself at the door to the toilets, happily slipping in unnoticed.
As expected, one cubicle was occupied, so he went into the one next to it and locked the door. He knew who was in the next cubicle, the guy who had sent the message – Brian! This would be their fifth rendezvous, the third and fourth having taken place in much the same way as tonight’s, with a cryptic invite from the older boy. Once he had the door locked, he slid the dispenser to indicate his desired interaction and waited a moment as the panel popped open and the gloryhole appeared.
“Hi,” he suddenly heard from the other side.
Danny didn’t reply. Talking wasn’t required for what he was there to do.
“Are you there?” Brian called out and a second later, added, “Hot shot.”
Danny frowned. Ever since their first encounter, the two had not really spoken beyond the emoji-based messages. While it had left Danny a little confused at first, it soon became a welcome break from the endless conversations he was forced to endure. The sudden speaking, as well as the return to the ‘colourful’ nicknames Brian liked to toss his way was something that was neither expected nor welcome.
“Hey, come on,” Brian encouraged after a further silence.
“We doing this or not?” Danny asked gruffly.
There was a gentle sigh from the other side of the partition, followed by the sound of the dispenser sliding and finally the click and gentle thud of the panel falling away on both sides to reveal the hole. Danny knelt down ready and when Brian’s penis hadn’t appeared after a few seconds he let out a deliberately loud huff. It appeared to have worked as the older boy’s semi-hard cock popped through the hole.
Danny got to work on it quickly, feeling it swell to full firmness in his mouth and still feeling a little irritated at the rigamarole it had taken to get started. He tried to force it from his mind and just focus on sucking. He loved sucking dicks, but mostly he loved the cum. He had been hooked on it ever since the final selection day when he first met Joseph and saw him cum.
His mind lingered on Joseph for a moment. Their last few meetings had been… difficult. Joseph was as bad as Mr Trent or his parents in his insistence Danny talk about ‘The Incident’. Danny had objected, much more verbally than he had dared with any of the adults but Joseph had not gotten mad at being shouted at, he had just continued to offer his support, which ended up irritating Danny even more.
Back before half-term, Danny had been dared by his mentor to jerk off in class. In doing so, he had been caught and publicly humiliated. For most boys, that would have been enough to put them off for life, but all it made Danny do was crave more dares. He had asked Joseph for them, but his mentor kept saying ‘not now’ or ‘when you’re feeling better’, which was stupid because Danny felt just fine.
He tried to shake his mind off of Joseph. After all, he was half-naked sucking off a cock he really enjoyed, with his own dick due to be sucked right after. That was where he should have been focused. He continued sucking, enjoying the large dick… which suddenly brought Nicky to mind. His sexual shenanigans with Nicky seemed like yet another thing he had left behind at half-term.
Before the break and the lockdown and… The Incident… Danny had played with his friend and his large dick fairly regularly. It had been fun and he missed it, but it had just not happened recently.
‘Fuck!’ Danny thought, once again re-focusing on the task at hand (or mouth). He re-focused, sucking eagerly on Brian’s meaty tool. He smiled to himself as he felt the pleasant thickness of the shaft, his slender hand wrapped around it.
As he looked at his own hand, all he could think about was holding it out as he stood in the abandoned roof garden looking at Josh. He had kept his distance while Josh talked about his problems, explained how his brothers had spent his whole life hurting him, how they had controlled and monitored and manipulated him to make his life a misery, simply to sate their own twisted hatred of the boy. Danny had listened, terrified of how it was all going to end until he was finally able to offer Josh a potential way out of his problems. That was when he had stood up, approached the boy sitting on the edge, ready to jump. He had held out his hand, thinking silent prayers to a God he didn’t believe in, hoping beyond hope for Josh to take it.
He let out a slight whimper but found himself shaken back to reality by a sudden spurt of cum in his mouth. He took a deep breath through his nose and continued sucking down Brian’s load until he was finished.
Once he pulled away, he didn’t follow his usual routine of putting his own cock through the hole for Brian to return the favour. Instead he just closed the panel on his side then took a seat on the toilet, waiting for Brian to get the hint and leave.
He heard another sigh from Brian’s side, followed by the panel closing and the door opening. He listened as the older boy stepped out but noticed him stop right outside the door to Danny’s own cubicle. He could see Brian’s feet as he stood there. He remained motionless for several moments before disappearing out of the room.
Annoyed that his main source of enjoyment, his escape from everything else that was going on, had seemingly lost its ability to distract him anymore, Danny eventually left too. Not even caring about being caught out of bed by a teacher or seen by anyone walking round the building in just his underwear, he walked mindlessly back down the stairs and returned to his dorm.