The Kingswood Effect - Chapter 9 (Patreon)
Content
Wednesday 29 September 2021
Chris stretched out as he began to wake up. As he let one eye open a tiny bit, he realised something was wrong… it was light! He had been almost unable to get to sleep the night before, knowing that his birthday was the following day. Chris always got excited about his birthday itself, but the real excitement came from what had happened the last two years – a secret, midnight celebration with Danny, just the two of them!
The surprise celebration had been completely unexpected back in Year 7, with the two only having known each other for a month. In Year 8 it had not been an expectation, but Chris had certainly gotten his hopes up. This year, Chris figured it was a certainty, having forced himself to go to sleep without mentioning it to Danny so he wouldn’t ruin the ‘surprise’. Yet it hadn’t happened!
Chris had been woken by the sound of the other boys getting up for the morning rather than Danny secretly waking him at midnight. Realising the celebration had not happened, he looked to the empty space at his side. Danny was gone, presumably off at the gym for his usual morning workout. With a heavy heart, he got up to get ready for breakfast. He would have considered skipping it and staying in bed, but the dorm was still working hard to re-bond after their shaky start to Year 9 by sharing mealtimes again.
“Happy birthday!” some of the boys began calling out as they spotted Chris stirring.
Chris smiled back at them, though it quickly faded as thoughts of Danny returned. He did feel a slight swell of joy as he got a smile from Nicky that he returned sincerely. It had been almost two weeks since the two boys had officially reconciled, and Chris was continuing to do his best to keep things between them positive. They were certainly not back to the closeness they had shared while together, or even the strong friendship they had built in their first year at the school, but it was getting there… slowly.
Conversely, things with Mike seemed to be getting worse, which only added to Chris’ confusion. Mike had been dumped by Nicky, just like he had, and then Mike had dumped Chris as a result of it. If anything, Chris was the one who deserved to be pissed off, yet Mike was growing increasingly cold and distant. He did grunt a quick, “Happy birthday,” as he passed Chris’ bunk, but he barely even made eye contact as he did it.
“Hi!” Chris heard from the opposite side of Danny’s bunk. He quickly looked round to see Mark standing there. “Happy birthday,” he said with a sweet smile.
“Thanks,” Chris said a little sadly.
Mark frowned just a little. “Are you okay?” he asked, noticing that the usual sparkle was completely absent from his new friend.
Chris stared back for a moment. What he wanted to say was, ‘I wanna cry, even more than usual, because my best friend forgot my birthday… or doesn’t care about it!’ He knew he couldn’t say that though. Saying it aloud would make it feel even more real. He was also still trying to shield the new boy from all the drama in the dorm, so that really didn’t seem the best move. Instead he forced a smile and said, “Yeah, I’m good!”
“You sure?” Mark asked, cocking his head slightly.
“Well…” Chris started. “Erm… there is one thing that’d make my morning better,” he said cautiously.
“What’s that?” Mark asked curiously.
Chris gingerly held out his arm.
It seemed to take a moment for Mark to catch on, but when he did, he nodded and said, “Oh, right, I see!” Even a month in, he was still getting used to have a friend who was quite so tactile. Or more importantly, getting used to being in a school where hugging wasn’t seen as a sign of weakness and target for derision. He smiled and climbed onto Danny’s bunk, shuffled over it and grabbed Chris, cuddling up to him. “Is this okay?” he asked, his arms wrapped around the other boy whose face nuzzled against his chest.
“Perfect!” Chris smiled. While he couldn’t get Danny out of his head (even more than usual), this was a nice substitute… at least for now.
*****
David shook his head as he stared at the reflection of the boy at his side in the mirrored wall ahead of them. While David was a sweaty, exhausted-looking mess as he power-walked away on his treadmill, beside him Danny was running and making it look utterly effortless. He huffed a few times. Danny could normally run literal circles around him, but today he seemed to be pushing himself especially hard.
“You… okay?” David asked a little breathlessly. When Danny didn’t even look round, he yelped, “Danny!”
“Huh? What?” Danny suddenly jumped. As he did it, he caught one foot on the other, tumbled down onto the fast-running treadmill and got catapulted off the back of it.
“Oh my god!” David declared, hitting the emergency stop on his own treadmill. “Danny are you okay?” he yelped out as he jumped off.
“Yeah,” Danny said as he scrambled round onto his knees. He glared across the gym to where a few older boys were working out, now laughing hysterically at him. “I’M FINE!” he snapped at them moodily. “Thanks for checking,” he added in a slight grumble.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to kill you!” David insisted, helping Danny up.
“It’s okay, my bad!” Danny insisted. “By the way, just consider this a lesson in, like… treadmill safety or whatever!” The general rule in the gym was that students below Year 10 were not allowed to use it unaccompanied. Thanks to his almost daily workouts in Year 7 and regular use of the gym throughout his post-accident physio sessions, Danny had been granted special permission to use the gym unattended. He had even been allowed to ‘supervise’ newcomer David, who had recently started joining him.
“I know I’m new, but even I know falling over on a treadmill isn’t exactly sensible,” David said with a smirk.
Danny’s eyes narrowed as he shook his head at David and said, “Ya know, I liked you more before your sense of humour kicked in!”
“Thanks,” David giggled. “Are you really okay?” he asked, pursing his lips as he looked on with concern.
Danny sighed. It was a loaded question. Was he okay? Physically, yes, his pride had been bruised more than his body. Emotionally, he was substantially less ‘okay’, though he knew that wasn’t really what David was asking. He simply nodded, smiled and said, “Probably about time to wrap it up anyway, I think!”
“Oh no, more, please,” David said sarcastically with a smirk.
“Nobody’s making you be here, ya know!” Danny said as they headed for the door, giving another angry glare to the still-laughing older boys across the room.
“Not true. I’m making me!” David replied.
“You know, you don’t have to be skinny to be sexy,” Danny said, putting his arm around the shorter boy as they headed out into the hallway.
David recoiled slightly. “I’m not doing this to be sexy. I’m already smart and that’s plenty sexy,” he said with a grin.
Danny chuckled and nodded. “Very true,” he agreed.
“So what’s got you so distracted?” David asked as they walked along to the locker room. “Wouldn’t happen to rhyme with Fliss’s Flerfday, would it?”
Danny frowned for a moment before he caught on then pursed his lips as he looked at David, shaking his head in bemusement. “No!” he lied so unconvincingly it was essentially a yes.
“Thought so. What’s up?” David asked. He shucked off Danny’s arm and reached up to place his own around the other boy instead. “C’mon, talk to Auntie David!” he sniggered.
Danny frowned at the comment and said, “I think you mean Uncle David!”
David looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged and said, “Either works, so long as you talk!”
Danny took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He had been thinking for months about what to do for Chris’ birthday, about what they might get up to during their traditional midnight outing. He had been looking forward to the night, but as Chris’ birthday crept closer and closer, he had found himself feeling increasingly distant from his supposed best friend.
As the weeks had ticked by since the start of term, Danny had seen less and less of Chris. Sure, they still had classes together, and shared a bed, but they always used to do so much more than that. It all seemed to have stopped now and Danny’s frustration with it had finally reached the point where he had decided to simply not bother with their traditional birthday outing. He had only decided it at the last minute and it was a decision he had regretted the moment he woke up that morning, seeing Chris asleep beside him, knowing he would wake up and realise nothing had happened.
“Come on,” David said, giving Danny a nudge. “You CAN talk to me, ya know!”
“I know I can,” Danny nodded. “But it’s okay!” he insisted. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to get back to the dorm, apologise to Chris and maybe they could do their thing tonight instead. “I gotta run, I’ll see you at breakfast!” he said, grabbing his bag out of the locker.
“Oh… kay…” David said, a little shocked by the sudden exit.
Danny wasn’t exaggerating, he literally ran! He ran all the way back to the Home Building and up the stairs. In his rush, he managed to take a wrong turn, still not used to turning right to head to his new dorm. A quick u-turn later and he was back along the corridor outside the door to dorm 1.09.
“Morning,” Nicky smiled as he left the dorm.
“Hey,” Danny said a little obliviously, focused on grovelling to Chris. As he stepped into the dorm, he glanced over to their bed… and saw Chris happily cuddled up with Mark! He had been expecting Chris to be miserable, maybe even distraught, broken down in tears, but instead he looked… fine, happy even, as he lay there wrapped in the arms of the dorm’s newest resident.
Danny took a step back out of the dorm and leaned on the wall beside the door. ‘Fucking Mark!’ Danny thought furiously. Figuring Chris didn’t need his apology, or anything at all from him, he just wandered off to shower before joining the others for breakfast.
*****
To say David’s sex life had changed since the start of Year 9 was an understatement. His best friend (or former best friend) was now in Year 11 and they were no longer speaking. He had been unlocked from the chastity device that had prevented him from touching himself for two whole years. He had been inducted into the Kingswood Underground and learned many of the secrets that came with it. He had finally begun to grow, albeit slowly, and continued to work hard on losing weight too, so his body had changed every bit as much as his life had.
One thing that had not changed was the love of voyeurism he had gradually developed over his time at the school. Was it the result of being forced onto the sexual side-lines for so long due to his prolonged chastity? Was it the result of feeling like a secondary character in someone else’s story? Was it simply the way he was wired? It was a question David had asked himself many times, though mostly as his own form of mental entertainment, knowing it was a pretty unanswerable question.
His love of watching others had been fed initially by the stash of illicit videos he had retained from Mike’s video trading service in Year 8, but as he grew tired of watching repeats, he began to crave new sights, new experiences… new victims! He had managed to record a couple of new things recently, one of which was currently playing on his phone as he pleasured himself.
Sixteen naked teens, eight sat in a circle, the other eight standing beside them – the bonding ritual he had been through a couple of weeks earlier with the rest of the dorm. It was annoying that he had only been able to position his phone at a single angle, meaning he didn’t actually get to see everyone, but he had managed to record enough to keep him coming back to watch it day after day.
He sat on the toilet with his trousers and briefs around his ankles, small but solid cock in one hand and his phone in the other. As he pumped away at his straining cock, the video reached his favourite part – Sam reached down and tweaked Rob’s nipples, making him ejaculate almost instantly.
David’s hand sped up as he let out a gentle whimper, on the verge of orgasm as he watched Rob spurt his load into the ritualistic cup. David considered rewinding to watch that part again, but as there were other people around, he couldn’t have the sound up and it was simply not as enjoyable without hearing Rob’s yelp of pleasure.
Glaring first to one side and then the other, seeing a slight hint of foot to his left and the shadow of a person on his right, he wished they would both just go away so he could enjoy himself… until another thought suddenly struck him. Glancing at the toilet paper dispenser, he remembered one of the many secrets that had been revealed to him recently… the glory holes!
While David had sucked dicks before, that was a brief experimentation which ended in less-than-ideal experiences he would rather forget. Similarly, the thought of being sucked was not something that appealed to him yet. However, the glory holes came with four options that David ran through in his mind. ‘Slide the dispenser towards the door if you wanna suck,’ Evan had explained to him. ‘Towards the wall if you wanna do the sucking. Slide it down if you want to be watched and slide it up if…’ David couldn’t even finish the thought he was so overwhelmed by the mix of excitement and nervousness.
Reaching out cautiously, he hit the secret button on the underside of the toilet paper dispenser that allowed it to slide, then slid it up. It clicked quietly into place and then… nothing! David wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved. He knew he had done it right. The fact nothing happened simply meant that neither of his neighbours had chosen a compatible option.
A few moments later, presumably having heard the slide and click from David’s cubicle, there was a similar sound in the nearby. As David heard a click, the bottom panel of the partition dropped to reveal the glory hole! Whoever was in there had seemingly chosen the option to be watched!
David shuddered and briefly considered slamming the panel back up into place and bolting out of there, but instead he took a deep, shaky breath and dropped to his knees. As he leaned close to the glory hole, he could see the boy sat on the other side. The position and angle was such that he couldn’t see the face of who was sat there, presumably by design. After all, anonymity was one of the main features of a glory hole!
David could see the rest of the other boy though. He was sat, much as David had been, with his trousers and underwear down to his ankles. His cock was rigid and much larger than David’s. Much to David’s delight, the other boy’s pubes were shaved clean off. He could see a slight hint of dark stubble at the base of the large dick, but he could live with that! Body hair was not something David enjoyed, either on others or himself, so the shaven prick next door was ideal!
Reaching down as he knelt staring through the hole, he took hold of his dick and stroked slowly. Watching someone was exciting, especially as it was someone new, someone he had not watched before. New content was something he had begun to suspect was the craving he felt and this only served to prove it. And yet, as the boy on the other side took hold of his large dick and began masturbating, David felt a strange sense that something was… off!
It was an amazing sight, the mystery boy was blessed with an impressive tool and clearly knew how to use it. That part had David wanking away furiously as he spectated, but what didn’t quite sit right was… he knew! The boy in the next cubicle KNEW he was being watched. By the looks of it, it was actually turning him on more as he clearly put on a show for his unknown spectator, but it just didn’t have the same thrill for David as watching someone secretly.
The boys in the videos he had inherited from Mike had no idea the videos still existed or that David was watching them. His friends were clueless they had been recorded during the ritual and remained oblivious to the few times David had managed to record them in the dorm. He knew it was wrong, but that was what made it so… exciting!
While the boy next door may not have been the very top of David’s ‘stuff that turns me on’ scale, the spectating was still undeniably hot and David had slowed his own stroking to a crawl, not wanting to cum before the exhibitionist.
“I’m gonna cum,” the wanking boy whispered, his voice sounding slightly younger than David had been expecting based on cock size.
With a few laboured breaths, the boy hiked up his school shirt and tie and unloaded onto his own stomach, stroking all the way to the last drop.
The orgasm was all the prompt David needed and he spurted his own load into his hand, not wanting to worry about cleaning up after himself by cumming on the floor. He sat for a few moments after he had cum, just watching as the other boy sat with his arms limply at his sides.
“Thanks, that was fun!” the boy whispered, then reached out with his foot to slide the panel up to cover the hole, the show apparently over.
David stood, looking for a moment at the small pool of watery goo in his hand. It still amused him how much of what happened at Kingswood was driven by this one bodily fluid. Shaking his head, he tipped his hand to drip it into the toilet then wiped his hand off with some toilet paper. This had definitely been fun, and something he would have to do again, but it had only served to reinforce what he already suspected – he wanted to secretly watch more of his schoolmates!
*****
Now that life around the world had returned to normality, or ‘the new normal’ as many called it, though it looked pretty much the same as ‘the old normal’ to the boys of Kingswood, birthday celebrations had resumed. That meant the boys were offered a range of options for how to commemorate their day. Chris had opted for a day out with his friends, visiting a video arcade, bowling alley and cinema, much like in Year 7, though that was scheduled for the coming weekend. That meant his actual birthday evening was looking surprisingly uneventful.
The school day had passed like any other Wednesday for the dorm 1.09 boys – double science, double citizenship, double history, maths and then French. As usual, study hour followed the end of the school day and most of the boys disappeared to their usual spots to study, complete homework or just avoid detection as they avoided studying or doing homework!
Chris had wandered off on his own as the day ended, making his way round to the Staff Building, tucked away in the corner of the main school grounds. The last time Chris had visited it had been in the middle of the night and he had crept into Mr Beecham’s room, needing support when his mood hit a particular low. Today, he had actually been invited, though it was not Mr Beecham who had asked him to visit.
“Geez, take your time,” Blane said, rolling his eyes as he stood outside the building watching Chris approach slowly.
“Sorry,” Chris said dejectedly with a shrug as he got closer, making no effort to speed up.
“Fuck! I’d say happy birthday, bud, but I don’t think it’d be quite accurate,” Blane said, the mood hanging over his little brother like a black cloud. “Everything okay?”
Chris didn’t answer. Instead he just kept walking until he reached Blane and threw his arms around him before bursting into tears.
Blane didn’t speak, mainly because Chris’ sobbing made it clear that conversation was not yet possible. He stood holding his little brother for a few minutes. A couple of other members of staff walked past, giving Blane a questioning look before he nodded to let them know things were in hand.
When Chris finally began to calm a little, Blane pulled back and asked, “Wanna tell me what’s up?”
Chris sniffed and shook his head. “No, not really,” he replied. He hadn’t even intended to let his distress show to Blane, but the moment he saw his big brother he had been unable to hold it in. That didn’t mean he had to share everything though! After all, Blane was almost as close to Danny as he was to Chris himself and talking about Danny to someone that he was close to just felt… wrong!
“If you’re not feeling up to it, we can always call home later!” Blane offered as Chris let go of him. He kept an arm around the younger boy as they headed for the entrance.
“No!” Chris said sharply. “I miss the others, I wanna see ‘em!”
“Hmm, okay then,” Blane said, still visibly concerned.
After they got inside, they called home as planned, giving Chris a chance to see the rest of the family. Amazingly, they were all there! He had known his three sisters and three other brothers would all be there, they never missed his calls home, but both his mother and father were also there! It had been an unexpected surprise as usually one or both of them would miss his calls due to the amount they worked, so by the time the call ended his mood had been substantially lifted, especially when the twins had signed off with, “See you in sixteen days, nineteen hours and forty-two minutes!” having literally counted how long it was until Chris and Blane would next be at home.
“You’re looking a bit brighter now,” Blane said cheerfully as he moved away from his desk and sat down on his bed.
Chris sighed as reality set back in.
“Well that didn’t last long,” Blane muttered, shaking his head. “Come on. Come and talk to me!” he urged his little brother.
“I don’t wanna talk,” Chris pouted.
Blane frowned as he shook his head at the boy. Nodding a a few moments later, he suggested, “Okay then, maybe your present will cheer you up!”
“Oooh, it just might!” Chris said, suddenly grinning.
“It’s in the closet!” Blane said, nodding towards the closet door.
“Only thing round here that is,” Chris sniggered as he hurried over, hearing a chuckle from Blane. He opened the door and found a guitar case standing at the front. “This?” he asked, picking it up before turning around to look at Blane.
“Oh, no, behind that,” Blane replied. As Chris went to turn back, he called out, “Yes, it’s that ya daft langer!”
Chris blushed a little at his own gullibility but moved over to the bed and placed the case down. “But I already have a guitar!” he said as he began to open the case, then looked to Blane and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound so ungrateful!”
Blane chuckled as he shook his head. “Just open it!” he insisted.
Chris opened the case to find, unsurprisingly, a guitar! However, as he looked down it he spotted writing on it. “Wait that’s…” he started, pointing at an autograph, “And that’s…” His jaw dropped as he stared in amazement. “Is that…”
“Signed by every member of Queen? You fucking bet it is!” Blane said, delighted at the reaction.
“Oh… my… fucking… god!” Chris exclaimed in absolute amazement. “That’s… that’s… how? I mean… how?” he asked, staring at Blane in shock.
Blane smiled. “Look, I may not like mam and dad’s money, but… well, sometimes it’s kinda handy!”
“So this is… real?” Chris asked, visibly shaking, scared to even touch it. “Like, these are their real autographs, not, like… replicas?”
Blane nodded, his grin even bigger at Chris’ obvious reverie.
“This is… like… an actual piece of music history!” Chris exclaimed, still in shock. “Seriously, oh my fucking god!”
Blane smiled, almost moved to tears by his brother’s absolute joy. “So you like it then?”
Chris stared at the guitar, then at Blane and shook his head, “You… I… erm… I fucking love it!” He launched himself onto Blane, grabbing him in a tight hug. “Thank you so much!” he whispered as he felt his brother’s arms around him.
“Anything for my little bro!” Blane whispered back to him.
“Anything!?” Chris exclaimed. “You mean that?” he asked, lifting his head as he looked at Blane slyly.
“Oh, I don’t like that look!” Blane said nervously.
“Well, there WAS something else I was kinda hoping I might get for my birthday… and… nobody else wants to give it to me, so I thought maybe you could!” Chris said, beginning to blush.
“Mmm-huh,” Blane hummed, already sensing where this was going. “And what’s that?”
“I wanna get fucked!” Chris said bluntly.
Blane cocked his head, shaking it a little as he let out a hearty sigh. “Come on Chris, you know me and Levi are exclusive now!”
“Yeah, but I’m your brother so it doesn’t count!” Chris said with a cheeky grin as he climbed off the bed, closing up the guitar case before carefully putting it aside.
“Jesus,” Blane exclaimed. “How fucked up do we need to be that ‘I’m your brother’ is a reason TO have sex rather than a reason NOT to have sex!”
“Maybe you can mull that over while you’re fucking me!” Chris said, beginning to undress.
“Come on, Chris. I don’t wanna cheat on Levi. I know that’s who I used to be and that’s the sort of shit I used to get up to back home but I’m… I’m trying to be better now!” Blane argued.
“Yeah, but he’ll never know,” Chris insisted, pushing his underwear down to let his erection spring free. He stood naked before his big brother, stroking his dick. “I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna walk out of here and announce, ‘hey, my brother just fucked me’, am I?” he reasoned, his flippancy concealing the anger he could feel bubbling up.
“That’s not the point,” Blane insisted. “I’d still know! And doing the right thing isn’t about NOT getting caught it’s… making the right choices!”
“Yeah, well maybe you shoulda thought of that before you started fucking me in the first place!” Chris snapped.
Blane recoiled at the tone, then frowned heavily as the words sunk in. He looked ready to lash out at first, but as he took a deep breath and thought about it, he nodded gently. “You know what… you’re right. I should have!” he said meekly. “The things we did last year… they were… they were wrong and I shouldn’t have done that to you!”
“TO me?” Chris scoffed. “You didn’t do anything TO me, you did it WITH me because we BOTH wanted it, just like I can tell you want it now!” he insisted, moving closer. “No fucking way you’re telling me you’re not hard,” he added, reaching down for Blane’s crotch.
“No!” Blane snapped, swatting Chris’ hand away.
“C’mon, stop being a pussy!” Chris goaded him, reaching down again.
Blane grabbed the boy’s hand and stared him dead in the eye. “Chris, I said… no!” he said in a tone Chris had very rarely heard from him before.
Chris stared back for a moment. He took a step back as Blane released his hand and awkwardly began to pull his clothes back on. “Yeah, well I… didn’t really want it anyway. I just… I was testing… to see if you’re, like, serious about Mr Trent,” he said, his lying painfully obvious.
“Hey, come here,” Blane said, standing up from the bed, feeling bad about having been so hard on him. He held out his hands to Chris’ taking hold of both as he looked down at him. “You know I love you, lil man, don’t ya?”
Chris sighed and nodded.
“And I don’t want you to think the stuff we did before wasn’t fun, cos it really was! And freaky as it might be, it made me feel so much closer to you, but…” Blane paused, thinking.
“But that’s behind us now?” Chris suggested.
Blane thought for a moment then nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said meekly.
“Don’t be. I just… it’s okay,” Chris said, not wanting to go into more detail. He glanced round at the guitar case and said, “I still can’t fucking believe you got me that!”
“I’m glad you like it,” Blane said. He knew there was more to talk about, but knowing Chris the way he did, he knew he wouldn’t talk more until he was ready.
*****
The boys had gathered for dinner as usual and, having had their fill, headed up to the dorm ahead of the first evening activity slot. They had been sitting around discussing the upcoming daytrip at the weekend when Chris got up to grab his bag and prepare his swimming gear. When he noticed Danny and David were showing no sign of movement, he walked back down the dorm and said, “You guys are gonna be late if you don’t get ready!”
“We’re not going!” David said, holding back a smile.
Chris frowned. “But it’s a mandatory one. Miss this and you miss out on COK!” he declared, already getting used to referring to the Underground’s ‘Currency of Kingswood’ by its painfully appropriate acronym.
While there was a whole range of ways to earn COK down in the Kingswood Underground – from performing in shows and taking on slave roles to entertain others to more tame things like working at the salon – all students earned a basic COK income simply by attending classes and extracurriculars. Having developed a strong interest on the inordinately expensive milking machine, Chris had been almost obsessive about timekeeping lately, determined not to miss out on any possible earnings.
“Oh it’s okay,” Rob said with a grin. “They’ve got permission to skip it tonight,” he explained. As Chris frowned at him, he added, “And so do you!”
“I… erm… what?” Chris mumbled, clearly confused.
“Yeah, you’re not going swimming tonight,” Nicky said as the others continued to snigger at Chris’ confusion. “We’ve got other plans for you!”
“Oh my god, birthday surprise?” Chris asked, finally catching on. “Oh, erm… err… extreme truth or dare! Erm… you’re gonna… make me streak through the Common Room, no… erm… fuck, I don’t know. Come on, tell me what it is!”
“Wait and see,” Rob teased.
Chris suddenly looked to Danny. “Wait, is this… did you do this?” he asked, suddenly feeling foolish for allowing himself to think Danny didn’t care. “Is this instead of… you know what?”
“Actually, this was Mark’s idea!” Nicky interjected into the awkward questioning.
Mark smiled timidly at the other boy, though Chris only looked back for a moment before he turned to Danny. Both boys stared at each other awkwardly.
Danny had wished Chris a happy birthday at breakfast, which had ruled out Chris’ first fear that he had simply forgotten. That had left him with the prospect that his best friend simply chose not to do anything, which somehow felt even worse than forgetting.
Oblivious to the awkwardness between the two, the group returned to their lively chatter as they killed a little more time before their evening plans.
It was about ten minutes later when Nicky finally managed to corner Chris alone.
“Guessing you’re not willing to give any spoilers about the plans?” Chris said with a smirk.
“No chance,” Nicky giggled. “But… erm… well… I wasn’t sure whether I should mention this or not, but… well… you know I have this tradition on other people’s birthdays…”
“You mean using it as a really flimsy excuse to make out with them?” Chris smirked. “Yeah, I was there when you started it!”
Both boys let out simultaneous sighs. It had been two years ago, across the building in dorm 1.01, when they had shared their first kiss. They had got back from Chris’ birthday celebration and Nicky had accidentally revealed his own birthday had been a couple of weeks earlier. The kiss had been thoroughly innocent, little more than a sign of affection between two new friends to celebrate the day. It was a little mind-boggling to think how much had happened since then.
Chris looked at Nicky and gave a meek smile. “Well… it’s never good to mess with tradition!” he said, though his heart was heavy as he said it, still missing his tradition with Danny.
Nicky raised his hand to Chris’ cheek. He caressed it gently then leaned in to kiss him. It was only a brief, delicate kiss, both boys releasing a gentle mew as their lips met. The history, and the sheer emotional weight of it seemed to melt away a little. Their journey back to friendship was a slow and difficult one, but the intimate shared moment seemed to be yet another step down the right path.
Nicky smiled as he pulled away and got one in return. “Happy birthday Chris,” he said softly.
“Thanks,” Chris said back gently.
As they turned to face the rest of the dorm, they mostly seemed engaged in one of their typically ridiculous arguments. Most of them were arguing over who would win in a fight between their German teacher, Mr Bombelles (who was French) and their French teacher, Mr Richter (who was German). Mike was transfixed on his two ex-boyfriends though, staring directly at them both as the kiss parted. At the same time, they both shot him a quick smile, but he just scowled and turned to join in the argument.
Several minutes later, the dorm door burst open and Brian burst in as he called out, “What up, bitches!”
The boys called out a range of greetings to Chris’ mentor, the group seemingly expecting him, though Chris wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad!
“And happy birthday to my lil Chrissy!” Brian added as he approached the group of excitable boys, grabbing Chris in a playful headlock. “You all ready to go?”
“Go where?” Chris asked as he squirmed free.
“Wait, you didn’t tell him?” Brian asked, suddenly looking serious. “You know they’ll never undertake the procedure if he hasn’t given his consent. There’s no way they’d insert something THAT big without him agreeing to it!”
“Wait, what!” Chris exclaimed. “Procedure?” he gasped, standing up. “Who’s… who’s inserting… what… where?” He looked utterly panicked until Brian burst into laughter followed by the rest of the group. Scowling, he growled at them, “I fucking hate you all!”
“Yeah, you might be thinking differently soon,” Rob said, standing up to place an arm around Chris. “Come on, time to go!”
“Go where?” Chris asked, no less nervous thanks to Brian’s joke. They headed out of the dorm, with nobody really giving anything away to him.
As they reached the stairs leading up to the second floor, they started up, which finally gave Chris his first hint. While there was an entrance to the Underground hidden in the ‘out of order’ shower cubicle on the first floor, it was rarely used as it ran the risk of the younger students discovering it. Instead, the Year 9s tended to go up to use the hidden entrance on the second floor instead. Chris’ suspicions were confirmed as the group piled into the second-floor shower room.
There were a couple of Year 11 boys showering in the far corner as they traipsed through, a few of the boys calling out complimentary comments to the wet, naked teens before following through the hidden entrance.
“Oh my god, what are we doing?” Chris asked excitedly as they made their way down the stairs. “Are we seeing a show? Did you get me a stripper? Wait, am I the stripper? Am I putting on the show? Guys, come on, pleeeeeease!” he pleaded, much to their amusement.
The group continued down into the Kingswood Underground, ignoring Chris’ demands as they chatted amongst themselves. For some, this was their first time going back to the Underground since they had first been introduced to it a couple of weeks earlier. For others, it was already becoming enjoyably familiar.
Unlike their first night, when the whole place had been empty to allow them to explore, tonight the facilities were in use. Wednesday was not one of the busier nights for the Underground, but there was still plenty going on as they got down there. A group of Year 11s were sat in the main atrium’s seating area, chatting and laughing as a Year 10 boy dressed in nothing but a collar and cuffs served them drinks. Up on one of the walkways, a couple of Year 12s were heading into one of the private playrooms. The sex shop looked to be fairly busy as usual, with boys browsing for inspiration or purchasing new entertainment.
“Is that it?” Chris asked excitedly. “Are you taking me to get new toys? I’d look damn good in one of those leather harnesses!” he declared confidently, getting a mix of agreement and teasing in return.
As they neared their destination, Chris fell silent, eyes widening in realisation. “No!” he declared in surprise. “Shut the fuck up. No fucking way!” he finally spoke as they stopped outside the room containing ‘The Milker’. “I… I… I can’t afford it yet!” Chris declared. “Not by a LONG way!”
Rob placed an arm around Chris and said, “We know, that’s why we all contributed, to buy you some time on it! Mark said how obsessed you are, so… we thought you’d like it!”
“Like it?” Chris said, shaking his head. “I love it!” he declared excitedly. He looked to Mark who was blushing a little then ran at him to grab him in a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. As he pulled away, he looked round the rest of the group and added, “All of you! Thanks!”
“Hnnh,” Mike huffed slightly.
Rob smirked. Despite the fact Mike still wasn’t really talking to Chris, he had still contributed to the gift. In fact, he had offered up more than was even asked of him, though he had still managed to act like he didn’t want to be doing it.
“Well, let’s get you set up. We’re giving you the full experience this time!” Brian declared as he led the way into the room.
“What’s the ‘full experience’?” David asked Rob curiously as they tagged along behind.
“Well The Milker itself is pretty much just a series of stuff built together to allow you to, like, be fucked or milked or… ya know… a range of other stuff,” Rob began, a couple of the other boys listening in, having not paid a great deal of attention to the device on their tour. “But paired with the computer system,” Rob went on, pointing to the terminal, then to a bunch of wires near the main machine, “And the sensors there, it can actually keep track of your vitals, your arousal, how close you are… stuff like that!”
“That’s so cool,” David said, more intrigued by the technology and how it worked than the potential for sexual excitement.
“Yeah, so if you go with the full set-up,” Rob continued as Chris eagerly stripped on the other side of the room, “Then it can be set to automatically do different things, like, you could tell it to keep going at you until you’ve had, like, five orgasms and you’d tell it how long a break you get between them. Or you can just have it, like, edge you and stuff. Or a mix of all of it!”
“Okay, I think I kinda get why Chris is so into it,” Nicky muttered, curious to see the device in action. “So what’s Chris getting tonight?”
Rob smiled as he spotted Chris look round slyly, trying to glean any spoilers he could. “Wait and see,” Rob replied, not wanting to give anything away.
The rest of the boys gathered in the spectators area, chatting quietly about the machine and what it could do as Brian continued to get Chris set up. Unlike last time, when he had been face-down with his dick protruding through to seat of The Milker, this time he was seated normally, the machine reclined to make him lay back while his feet were up in stirrups, unashamedly exposing his hole and raging erection to the rest of the dorm.
“So it’s up to you how much stuff we use,” Brian explained quietly, now that Chris was secured in place by his wrists, ankles, thighs, upper arms and waist. “Obviously the actual milking part’s gotta go on your dick, but the rest is up to you. Want the fucking part?”
“DEFINITELY!” Chris snapped eagerly, his mind rushing back momentarily to Blane and his request to be fucked.
“And I’m guessing you want the bigger one,” Brian said, offering up the small selection of attachments. As he got a nod, he put the bigger one in place then lined up the attachment ready to impale Chris when the machine started. “Nipple stimulation?” he asked, then began securing the relevant attachment as he got another nod from Chris.
Brian continued to offer the various services, including the full-body tickler, the hot/cold tormentor and the sensory deprivation helmet, but Chris turned them down, not so much for the fact he didn’t want to try them, but more for the fact they would conceal more of him. As excited as he was to be in the machine, he was equally excited by the idea of his dormmates being able to see him and his arousal fully.
“Okay, last bits and we can calibrate,” Brian said as he started attaching sensors to various parts of Chris.
“Jesus, that looks intense,” Josh said, more than a little intimidated by the elaborate machine. “Rather him than me!”
Danny nodded his agreement. “Yeah, just the restraints make me shudder. The rest of it’d give me a full-on panic attack,” he said back quietly.
“Okay, just give me a minute to let the system do some checks,” Brian said as he moved over to the terminal and started tapping away.
David followed him over and said, “Can I watch? This equipment is so cool!”
“Sure,” Brian chuckled, amused by the boy’s curiosity. A few moments later, he called out, “Okay, it’s all set and you’ve had a profile set up. The more you use it, the more detailed the system learns how to read you so better it gets at teasing you.”
“It learns?” David said in delight. “Freaking awesome!”
“Sure, that’s the bit to focus on. Not the naked boy with a boner!” Nicky called out sarcastically with a smirk.
“Anyway, time’s ticking,” Brian quickly interjected, “So let’s get him started! Mark, this was your idea. Why don’t you come and hit start!”
“Okay,” Mark said, blushing a little as he stood. As he walked over to Brian, the older boy directing him where to push, he called out, “Happy birthday, Chris. Enjoy!” He pushed the start button and things began whirring to life.
Chris let out a nervous giggle, followed by a shuddery moan as he felt the dildo slowly push inside him. At the same time, the milking tube slid down his cock and the nipple attachments buzzed gently. “Fuck!” he declared in shock. The stimulation to the three areas was intense, but a glance across at the eight others watching him was almost more exciting than the physical sensations.
“Ah, ahhh yeah,” he moaned, closing his eyes as he let his head rest back, enjoying the machine. He flexed a little, not trying to get free, just reminding himself that he was locked in place, another level of enjoyment he was finding surprisingly strong.
As Danny sat watching, he felt a knot in his stomach. He had already felt like Mark was taking over a lot of things – taking Chris’ time, taking the goalkeeper position on the football team, taking Danny’s spot as Chris’ closest friend – but now he felt like he had simply handed the other boy another win. He had allowed Mark to upstage him for Chris’ birthday, to get him the best gift, to be the one who made the day memorable! Feeling close to tears, he sidled up to Brian and slipped an arm around his waist.
“Hey,” Brian said quietly with a grin as he raised an arm to put around Danny’s shoulders. “Enjoying the show?”
Danny wanted to be honest, to vent and let it all out to his boyfriend, but with Chris and Mark right there, along with the rest of the dorm, he couldn’t say anything. Instead he simply nodded and forced a smile.
“Oh god, I’m getting close,” Chris whimpered. “Ugh, oh my god… how… how many… orgasms did you set it for?” he gasped as he teetered on the brink.
Suddenly the machine stopped, leaving Chris whimpering as he tried to fuck the motionless milker and push himself over the edge.
“That’s the best part,” Brian said with a grin. “None!”
“What?” Chris exclaimed in surprise. He had already slipped back from the edge a little when the machine kicked back in. “No!” he called out as he realised the machine had only been set up to edge him, not make him cum!
The other boys burst into laughs and cheers as they realised the show they were about to see was not quite what they had expected.
“Wait, unnnh, how long… unnnh…” Chris grunted, the machine stopping as he hit the edge again, “How long is it gonna be on for?”
“Don’t worry,” Mark called out. “We’re still poor. We could only afford an hour!”
“An hour!” Chris whimpered. That still sounded torturously long.
“Fuck, an hour of edging,” Rob muttered to the others around him. “I don’t know if I need popcorn or a wank!”
“Probably both!” Mike replied, looking more than a little aroused, his arms folded over his lap.
Brian smirked as he watched the small crowd of increasingly uncomfortable boys over the next half hour. He knew they were all aroused, and knew exactly what was going to happen eventually, it was simply a question of how long they would put it off and who would be first to break and start openly playing. Usually it would have been Chris who went first, with his willing exposure paving the way for the rest of his friends, but he was obviously not an option. Danny would do it, but usually only if dared or ordered to and Brian had other plans for him already. Partly to give the boys a little mercy and partly for his own entertainment, he sidled up to the group.
“Ya know… after an hour on that thing, he’s REALLY gonna need to blow!” Brian said slyly.
“I already… unnh… need to blow!” Chris grunted.
“Quiet, you!” Brian smirked as the other boys laughed awkwardly. “And when he does blow, it’s gonna be SPECTACULAR, but the question is… who gets to do it!”
The boys quickly exchanged looks. Half the boys managed to look both keen and reluctant at the same time, obviously eager to play with a horny, restrained Chris, but held back by the plethora of personal problems.
“I can think of one way to help you decide,” Brian said, playing it coy. He paused a moment to build suspense as the younger boys stared at him in anticipation. “Cum for cum!” he stated bluntly. “First to cum gets to make Chris do it!”
“I don’t know…” “But what if…” “How do we…” some of the boys began to question.
“And go!” Brian yelled out, not wanting to give them a chance to question.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Mike was on his feet, sweatpants and underwear down to his ankles and cock in hand before most of the others realised what was happening. In quick succession, the rest of the boys followed, some removing clothing, others remaining dressed with just their dicks out.
“And just to really spur you on,” Brian added with a grin, “Last one to cum has to stay and help with clean-up… which WILL be messy!”
“Ewww!” several of the boys chorused, their hands visibly speeding up as they pumped away.
“Oh fuck!” Chris moaned as he looked around to see the wanking watchers. He was panting, his cock throbbing inside the motionless sleeve as he teetered on the edge. The Milker remained inactive for a few minutes, its sensors showing any further stimulation would take Chris too far. He let out a series of whimpers as he watched his friends jerk off over who got the right to make him cum. It was embarrassing, it was humiliating, it was degrading… and it felt fucking amazing.
“Hey,” Brian whispered as he moved behind a frantically masturbating Danny. “You, erm… might wanna slow down!”
Danny looked round at his boyfriend and gave a look of confusion.
“If you lose and stay behind,” Brian whispered in the boy’s ear, “I’ll fuck your brains out!”
“That won’t take long,” Nicky whispered, leaning in from the side, having heard the offer.
Brian snorted with laughter and stood up as the rest of the boys looked round curiously. “Sorry, carry on,” he urged them, giving Nicky an amused pat on the back as Danny glared at them both.
“Fuck, I’m gonna…” Mark started, but was a little too embarrassed to say the words. He was still only just getting used to masturbating around the other boys and talking about it still remained a significant challenge.
“Fuck,” Danny muttered as he watched cum fly from the new boy. Why did he have to be first? Having Mark take his place with Chris was bad enough without having to watch him… do whatever he was gonna do to make Chris cum! He glared momentarily at Brian, annoyed that his offer had stopped him from winning and being the one to make Chris cum.
“Oh my god,” Chris gasped, The Milker grinding to a halt again as the show going on at his side took over the job of edging him.
Although first place had been claimed, the race was still on to avoid last, most of the boys unaware that Danny was intending to take it on purpose.
David was next to cum, but made very little show of it, only letting out a quiet moan as he spurted his meagre load into his hand. Mike followed next, shooting both loudly and proudly, his other hand between his legs teasing his hole. As soon as he was done, he reached to Rob at his side and tweaked a nipple.
Pushed over the edge by the nipple teasing, Rob shot too, giving Mike a look that was as annoyed as it was grateful. Nicky and Josh both followed soon after, at which point Danny finally sped up.
Unsurprisingly it didn’t take Danny long to shoot. The sight (and sounds) of Chris being edged by The Milker, the display of orgasms from his dormmates and the promise of a fuck from Brian were all exciting alone, but together added up to a true thrill. It was only made stronger by the realisation all eyes had fallen on him as they noticed he would be last. Some jeered and teased that he had ‘lost’ while others simply sat and enjoyed the show as he launched several spurts out ahead of him, his hand finally slowing to a stop.
“How long’s… left?” Chris whimpered.
“Less than twenty minutes,” Brian replied.
“That’s forever!” Chris whined, then gave a pleasured moan as the clamps on his nipples retracted and changed position, buzzing away with strong vibrations once they were resecured. “Fuuuuuuck… let me cum!” he begged.
“Okay,” Brian said, moving closer. As Chris stared back at him, smiling with relief, the older boy smirked and said, “In seventeen minutes!”
“I hate you all!” Chris moaned as the crowd of spectators laughed.
With their own orgasms out of the way, the boys were able to enjoy the rest of the show purely for spectacle of it, unhindered by the own need to cum, though as the minutes ticked by a few cocks began to re-harden a little.
“Pleeeeeease, let me go,” Chris pleaded.
“Should we… let him go?” Mark asked, visibly concerned.
“Nah,” Brian said, shaking his head. “He knows our safe word, don’t ya, bud?”
Chris huffed, though it was cut short by a groan as the dildo in his butt began to buzz. Silently he nodded.
“But you’re not saying it, are you?” Brian asked, teasing the boy.
“No,” Chris pouted.
“Because…” Brian prompted him.
Chris huffed again, scowling at his mentor. “Because… I hate this, but… unnh, fuck, unnh… but I fucking love it too!”
Brian smiled as Chris blushed at the admission.
“He’s so weird,” Mark whispered, mostly to himself.
Danny scowled once again. Of COURSE Mark would be worried about him. Of COURSE he’d do whatever it took to outdo Danny!
“Hey, we should get a picture!” Nicky said, now that the rest of the boys were recovered and looking more presentable following their hasty wank.
“Great idea, I’ll take it. Everyone gather round!” Brian said, accepting Nicky’s phone from him.
Chris moaned as the boys all got closer, beginning to gather for the photo.
“I’ll take a few and you can pick the best. I’m not a good photographer!” Brian smirked. “Everyone say MILKER!”
The boys giggled and called out the word as Brian snapped a series of a shots.
As the boys began to move away there was a beep from the machine.
“Ah, program’s finished!” Brian said, “Everyone stand clear!”
The boys remained close by, but kept their distance as the arms with the milking tube, anal attachment and nipple stimulator all retracted and folded away, leaving Chris fully exposed.
Chris pulled at the restraints and said, “I thought these were supposed to unlock automatically when it finished!”
Brian smiled. “That’s an option you can choose. I didn’t. I thought we’d want to keep you in place while you… finish up!”
Everyone suddenly looked to Mark who gulped nervously. “Erm… everyone should… join in!” he said in an attempt to deflect some of the intimidating attention.
“Works for me!” Rob said happily, going straight for Chris’ nipples.
Mike followed suit, placing his hands on Chris’ stomach but avoiding eye contact as his ex glanced at him. David and Josh stayed back, both still reluctant to get physically involved with others, while Nicky and Danny remained a step away for their own reasons.
Mark had been hoping for more of the others to gather, still feeling painfully on show as he took hold of Chris’ rock-hard cock and asked, “Ready?”
“I’ve been ready for a fucking hour!” Chris growled. “Unnh, yesssssss!” he hissed as he felt the hand begin to move.
In what can only be described as a full on ‘fountain’ of cum, Chris let out a euphoric yelp as he finally began to shoot, cum flying up and splashing back down over himself, a few bits here and there hitting the three boys around him.
Mesmerised by the impressive ejaculation as much as he was by the look of sheer pleasure on Chris’ face, Mark continued to stroke until Chris moaned, “N… no… more!” Panting heavily, he lay there sweaty, cum-soaked and exhausted.
Brian pressed a button and the various restraints popped open, though Chris remained in place until Rob and Mark started helping him stand.
“Thanks,” Chris giggled, starting to catch his breath.
Brian leaned in close to Chris and sniffed. “Yeah, good thing the exit goes through the shower room. I’d make sure he takes one on the way!” he said to the others, then ruffed the boy’s hair and said, “Hope ya had fun, bud!”
“That was… awesome!” Chris said, shaking his head as he grinned.
“We should get cleaned up,” Danny said, abruptly.
“Oh yeah, I guess we’ll get going,” Chris said, as he grabbed his clothes. He didn’t bother to dress, he just tagged along with the others as they filed out. Chris gave Danny a wistful look before he left, but Danny wasn’t looking.
“Well, alone at last!” Brian said, moving closer to Danny as he casually put his arms around him.
Danny leaned against the older boy, then grabbed onto him tightly.
“Hey, you okay?” Brian asked as he pulled his head back a little to look down at Danny.
“Mmm-huh,” Danny hummed, keeping his cheek pressed to Brian’s chest for a few seconds. With a sigh he pulled away and looked up. “So how about that fuck?” he asked with a grin.
*****
“Ah, you got them back in!” Nicky exclaimed from his seat in the Underground atrium as he saw Danny and Brian approaching. He had been sitting there for half an hour, since leaving Danny and Brian behind. As they looked at him curiously, he explained, “You said you were gonna fuck his brains out…”
“Oh!” Brian nodded, then smirked and said, “Didn’t quite manage it, just fucked the cum out of him instead!”
“Brian!” Danny yelped as a few of the other students in the atrium sniggered at the comment.
“What, you’re my boyfriend. You think anyone’s surprised?” Brian asked with a grin. As Danny just gave a dismissive shrug, Brian looked to Nicky and asked, “What you still doing down here?”
“Waiting for him!” Nicky said, pointing to Danny. “We gotta talk!”
“Ooh,” Brian cringed. “He’s not your boyfriend so that’s not a ‘we’re breaking up’ kind of ‘we gotta talk’, so it’s got to be something bad. Am I right?”
“That’s between me and Danny,” Nicky said, not wanting to give anything away.
“What did I do now?” Danny pouted, taking a seat beside Nicky.
“Guess I’ll see ya later,” Brian said, giving Danny a quick kiss. He gave Nicky a quick fist bump and smile before he walked away.
Danny frowned as he felt Nicky staring at him. “Can’t this wait? I’ve had a shit day!” he complained, slumping sideways against the other boy.
Nicky shrugged a little and said, “I guess it COULD wait, but… it’s not gonna!”
“Fine,” Danny huffed. “What?” he demanded as he sat back up.
Nicky tapped on his phone for a few moments then turned it to show Danny as he stated, “This!”
Danny took the phone and found himself looking at the picture that had been taken earlier during Chris’ edging on The Milker. “Hnnh, not a bad photo!” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, now scroll through the rest!” Nicky said, eyebrows raising.
As Danny scrolled to the next picture, Mark’s hand had found its way onto Chris’ head, stroking his hair gently. The one after, Danny was staring at Mark’s hand. The one after that he was looking at Mark. On the final one, his expression was…
“If looks could kill, you’d be on the run for murder right now, mate!” Nicky exclaimed, shaking his head.
“Have the others seen these?” Danny asked nervously.
Nicky shook his head as he took the phone back. He tapped a few times and said, “And now they never will.” He got an audible sigh of relief from Danny. “But seriously, what the hell? You looked about ready to go for him!”
Danny raised his hands to rub his face, covering his eyes as he groaned. “Come on,” he said, his voice muffled a little. “I don’t wanna talk about this right now!”
“Oh, then we won’t!” Nicky exclaimed.
“Seriously?” Danny asked, looking round and looking pleasantly surprised.
“No, you knob. Of course we’re talking about this now!” Nicky said sharply.
“Dick,” Danny growled as he slumped back away from Nicky. “Whadda you want me to say?”
“I dunno. Maybe tell me why him touching Chris made you go full on… Mikey-style!” Nicky sniggered, then frowned a little.
“Wow, low blow,” Danny said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I don’t feel good about that one,” Nicky said, looking guilty, “But anyway, back to you. What’s going on?”
Danny sighed as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said dismissively.
“Oh really?” Nicky scoffed.
“Yeah,” Danny insisted, avoiding eye contact.
“Oh okay, I guess we’ll just leave it there then,” Nicky shrugged.
“Seriously?” Danny asked, shuffling forward ready to stand.
“No, you absolute knob!” Nicky huffed, shaking his head. He grabbed the back of Danny’s t-shirt and yanked it back to make him remain seated. “Jesus, you really are gullible. Now come on, this is me. I know I’m not Chris, but me and you we’re… we’re bros, right? So please just… tell me what’s going on!”
Danny stared at the other boy for a moment then let his head droop as he shook it a little. Taking a deep breath, he raised it again and said, “I just… don’t like Mark!”
Nicky shrugged. “Fair enough. You’re not required to like everyone,” he said casually. “But is there… any particular reason you don’t like him?”
“He’s just… well he… I mean…” Danny floundered for a moment, trying to find any example of something he had done wrong. “Erm…” he hummed, lost for how to answer.
Nicky sighed and reached out to place a hand on Danny’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Do you think… maybe… you might just be a tiny bit jealous?” he asked cautiously.
“No!” Danny snapped. “I’ve got nothing to be jealous of, and even if I did have something to be jealous of, which I don’t, I wouldn’t be jealous anyway cos that’s not what this is!”
Pursing his lips thoughtfully for a moment, Nicky said quietly, “Danny, you know we’re friends, so… I hope you don’t hate me too much for saying this…”
“Then maybe don’t say it!” Danny pouted grumpily.
Nicky smirked and shook his head. “Sorry, but I think I have to,” he apologised. “D’ya think maybe you’re kinda used to having Chris just… clinging onto you? Ya know, always having him there hanging on your every word like some adorable little puppy that loves head scratches and that humps anything that stops moving long enough?”
Danny smirked for a moment and said, “That’s a pretty good description,” then his expression hardened as he added, “But no, that’s not… I mean… I don’t think of him as… erm…”
Nicky remained silent, letting his hand slide down to stroke Danny’s arm gently.
Danny shuffled forward in his seat, rubbing his face with both hands for a moments as he groaned. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Is that… what this is? Is that what I’m doing?” he asked, looking shaken.
“I don’t know,” Nicky replied honestly, “But it’s how it looks from where I’m sitting! And ya know what, it kinda makes sense!”
“Glad it does to you!” Danny said, looking thoroughly bewildered.
“Well… you two were besties from day one,” Nicky started.
“Eww, don’t say besties!” Danny scoffed.
Nicky shuddered. “Yeah, I sound like my mum,” he sniggered. “Anyway, you two were… whatever you are, right from the start, but then… Chris starts seeing Kyle!”
“Which I was fine with!” Danny interjected, shaking his head. As Nicky raised his eyebrows, Danny huffed and added, “Eventually!”
“Mmm-huh,” Nicky hummed. “Then all that blew up and it nearly tore you and Chris apart, but then you sort things out and BAM, the accident. Suddenly he’s not just your best friend, he’s the best friend who saved your life, and whose brother helped you recover, and who hung on your every need from the moment you came back. But now…”
“I’m okay!” Danny said, nodding as he frowned a little. As Nicky nodded back, he sighed and said, “I’m all better now and he doesn’t need to… worry about me so much, which means he can…” he paused and shrugged.
“Finally get a life!” Nicky suggested, shrugging too. “Maybe even… move on a bit!” He flinched a little at his own choice of words.
“Move on from me or from you?” Danny asked, the question much more pointed than he had intended.
“I think… maybe both!” Nicky answered.
Danny sighed. “So if him and Mark are… going somewhere then, I guess we should… I dunno, be happy for him? And let him?” he asked curiously.
“I think we do,” Nicky nodded. “I think we both owe it to him!”
“Does that mean I have to like Mark?” Danny pouted, getting a laugh from Nicky.
*****
“You had a good day then?” Mark asked quietly, glancing down at the others milling around the dorm. He reached down and stroked Chris’ hair.
Chris sighed as he lay with his head on Mark’s lap, his legs hanging over the arm of the sofa. “Yeah,” he said with a pensive smile. “That gift was amazing. Thank you!”
Mark shrugged. “It was all of us really,” he said modestly. “Everyone wanted to do something for you.”
“Everyone?” Chris asked, eyebrows raising so far they almost disappeared into his hairline.
“Yes, everyone. Even Mike!” Mark chuckled, looking over at the other boy who was currently sat with Josh in a headlock on his bunk.
Chris smiled. Mike wasn’t who he was thinking of when he had questioned it, but it was nice to know that the distance between himself and his ex was possibly not as big as it seemed sometimes. “You did great tonight, by the way,” he said quietly, reaching beside his head to stroke Mark’s knee. “With the… erm…” he blushed a little as he made a wanking gesture.
Mark blushed back too. “Oh, glad you enjoyed it,” he said a little awkwardly.
“No! Not… when you did me!” Chris insisted, “I mean… yes, that WAS good and I DID enjoy it, I just meant… you… joining in!”
Mark smiled. “It’s… weird how easy it is to get used to that stuff with these guys!” he admitted, looking down the dorm. He sniggered as he saw Josh had now been rescued from his headlock and Mike was now held in one by Rob instead, with Josh teasingly poking him. It was only made funnier by the fact Mike was attempting to do his usual routine of narrating the stressful situation but was struggling to even speak with Rob’s arm around his neck.
“I keep telling how great these guys are,” Chris insisted, sitting up. “Just give ‘em time!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mark said a little dismissively. “I know,” he shrugged as he shook his head. “Anyway, I’m gonna go get ready for bed!”
“Any chance you can put me in mine. It’s SO far away,” Chris complained, glancing it his bunk barely five paces away.
“Your wish is my command,” Mark smirked as he stood up then reached down to grab the other boy who burst into giggles as he was lifted. “Oof, you are WAY heavier than you look!” he grunted.
“Hey, don’t fat-shame me on my birthday!” Chris pouted as he grasped on tightly to avoid being dropped.
“Okay, I can hold it back ‘til tomorrow,” Mark sniggered. He leaned down to put Chris onto his bunk but over-stretched himself and ended up falling on top of him, both of the laughing as they tangled together.
“Having fun?” Danny asked as he appeared beside the shared double bunk.
Chris and Mark both froze as they saw the other boy lay down on his side. They looked at each other for a moment, then to Danny.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Danny said a little awkwardly.
“You’re not,” Mark said. “I was just leaving and the birthday boy here was too freaking lazy to walk from the sofas himself!”
“Wow, no wonder he’s getting podgy!” Danny smirked.
Chris scowled as Mark snorted with laughter. Mark quickly suppressed the laugh.
“Tell him!” Chris snapped.
Mark sighed. “It’s no fat-shaming allowed on his birthday!” he said, shaking his head.
“That’s okay, I can save it for tomorrow!” Danny said with a grin.
Mark and Chris both burst into laughter at the comment, taking a few moments to calm before letting Danny know what was so funny.
Twenty minutes later, things were finally beginning to calm in the dorm as Mr Trent appeared to do his final checks for the evening. “You all had a good evening?” he asked as he looked round the dorm. After getting an excitable chorus of positive responses, he said, “Great, and happy birthday Chris. Saw you showing off the guitar!”
“Yeah,” Chris called back, “But most of these plebs don’t even know who Queen is!”
“She’s on the money and stamps, right?” “What’s a pleb?” “Didn’t they sing that weird song?” some of the other boys chirped back.
“Okay, calm it down,” Mr Trent called out with a snigger, worried a full-on conversation might break out. “Right, see you all in the morning!”
“Night sir!” the boys chorused back in the slightly-mocking unison they had perfected over the years.
With Mr Trent gone and the lights out, ‘wank time’ kicked in, and despite the whole dorm having cum earlier during Chris’ celebration, most of them were at it again already, the events of the night feeding several wank fantasies.
“Hey,” Chris whispered softly as he shuffled closer to Danny. “I… I don’t know what I did, but… whatever it is… I’m sorry!”
Danny felt like he’d been stabbed in the chest with a blade of ice, a sharp coldness piercing him as his words caught in his throat. He took a second to compose himself and gulped. “You didn’t do anything!” he replied softly.
“Kinda feels like I did,” Chris replied, sniffing slightly.
Danny rolled onto his side and whispered, “You really didn’t. I’m sorry. I…” He paused. Even if he had been able to put what he was feeling into words, now was not the time or the place for it. Instead he gulped, took another deep breath and said, “I’ll make it up to you, I promise!” He heard a slight sigh from the other boy and asked quietly, “Cuddle?”
Chris happily nestled against him, more to be said, but clearly not right then.