Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 23:40:57 EDT
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: Point of View, chapter 17

Legal Notice:
The following story may contain descriptions of graphic sexual acts.  These
acts may be between boys or between a man and a boy.  The story is a work
of fiction and has no basis in reality.

The author, or his designee, retains copyright to this story.  There may be
no reproducing or distribution of this story without expressed written
consent.

I wish to extend my thank you to Ed for his editorial assistance with this
chapter.

              *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Point of View - by Erastes                        Copyright 2003 by Erastes
Chapter 17 - The countdown.                       February 2003

On his next visit, Jack brought me a calendar for the current year,
figuring it might come in handy.  I thanked him for the gift, and then I
asked him if he could please find out what my release date was going to be,
as I wanted to begin my countdown to freedom.  He laughed and said he would
find that out for me, and then he took the chapters I had completed and
left.  The next day Jack came back, but only to tell me that my release
date was the fifth of May, or the Cinco de Mayo.  Again I thanked him for
his help, but then I explained to him that his next visit would have been
soon enough to relay this information to me.  He said it hadn't been a big
problem, and he was glad to do that, and he wanted me to have that
information as soon as possible.  He went on to explain that he thought
knowing my release date might make the time pass more quickly for me and
give me something to look forward too.  I thanked him once more for his
thoughtfulness, and told him he was right, that he had given me something
better to focus on.  I would now set my sights on my liberation date and
the time when I would become a free man again.  After he left, I concluded
that I'd have to do something special for him one day, to repay him for all
of his kindness.

When I got back to my cell, I shared this information with Darren, and then
I began to number the days on my calendar.  I numbered them backward, from
our release date, sort of like the countdown for a space flight.  Every
morning I'd cross off the previous day and count my sentence down, one day
at a time.  Darren was the one who liked this idea the most, and he became
very excited on January 27th, when the countdown dropped to under one
hundred days left to go.  I could see this was going to be more important
for him than for me, and I looked forward to each morning when he would
come to my cell to check on how many days we had left, before we got out of
here.

Darren also asked for my help again, on a couple of other occasions, and I
did comply with his request, even though my concern about getting caught
was continuing to grow.  We would do this at times when everyone else was
out of the cellblock, like during visiting hour or rec time, but I always
worried about a guard seeing what we were up to.  The guards were generally
a bit on the noisy side when they made their rounds, and you could
generally hear their footsteps echoing down the corridor, or their keys
rattling as they made their way around each wing.  However, I was concerned
about what they might discover if one of them made his rounds more
silently, not giving us the typical warning signs.

Darren was also getting more comfortable asking me for my assistance, and I
could tell how much he enjoyed it when I polished his knob.  The last time
we did anything, he displayed his stamina, as he wasn't ejaculating as
quickly as he had in the past.  I also didn't have to remind him about
keeping the noise under control either, and he was able to stifle himself
without my constant warnings.  He remained aggressive during these times,
yet gentle, as he got wrapped up in the action.  He would energetically
thrust his hips back and forth to mirror the movements of my head, as it
slid up and down his shaft, but he didn't do this in a rough fashion.  He
was quite gentle, but he did like to dictate the pace of our lovemaking
while being careful not to injure or gag me in the process.  He also got in
the habit of giving me a big hug for my efforts when we were through,
though he wouldn't do this until he had come down from his climactic high.
I was glad to be able to help him in this fashion, as I enjoyed seeing that
splendid tool of his, and it allowed him to release some of the sexual
frustration that had built up between these sessions.

A few days later, Jack came back to see me, but this time he brought with
him some of my earlier chapters, which now contained my editor's comments
and suggestions.  Seeing he had to leave the bag containing these chapters
with the guards, so they could check it for contraband, Jack offered me a
few of those comments in person, as he had taken the time to speak with my
editor personally.  Jack told me overall my editor had really liked the
story, but there were a couple small items she thought I should leave out,
and others she thought I needed to expand upon.  Jack was able to talk to
me about all these issues intelligently because, as I learned later, he had
been reading the chapters after his secretary had typed them up.  This
impressed me, when I discovered he had been spending his precious time
doing something like that to help me, in addition to everything else he had
been doing on my behalf.  It's nice when your lawyer is more than just your
lawyer, and he is also a very good friend.

His visit actually lasted a fairly long time, as he went into quite a bit
of detail about my editor's suggestions, and he even offered some of his
own thoughts on this.  Not only did he comment about the story, but he also
shared his views about my editor's suggestions as well.  He informed me
that he thought one of the items my editor suggested should be left out
shouldn't.  He felt very strongly that it should remain in, and he even
went on to explain his reasons for recommending this.  When we finished, I
told him I'd make the appropriate changes and resubmit them, except for the
one he recommended against making, and he said he'd be back the following
week to pick them up.

Before he left, I made sure that I expressed my gratitude to him, letting
him know how much I truly appreciated all of his help.  Not only was he
there for me with legal and financial assistance, but now he was also
making his own editorial suggestions, besides taking care of the house for
me.  In addition to everything else, he was also making sure my jail
account had plenty of money in it, so I could purchase whatever I wanted
from the inmate store.  If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have had
as good a lawyer as I ended up with and would have lost everything I had,
including my house.  Without him in my corner, I would have been
languishing in here, without my writing or much hope about my future.  He
was truly a Godsend.

After Jack left, the guard gave me the bag containing my edited chapters,
and I took it from him and followed another guard back to my cellblock.  On
the way back, the guard pointed something out to me that I wasn't aware of.
"You were taking so long with your lawyer that I thought you were going to
miss out on your shower, but if you hurry, I think you can still make it.
We left a towel on the table for you, so if you hustle and get ready
quickly, I'll take you over to the shower area."

I thanked him and hustled into my cell, grabbing the towel along the way.
I threw the paper bag containing my story onto my bunk, quickly took off my
things, wrapped the towel around my body, and went back out to where the
guard was waiting.  We took off toward the showers, but I was walking
faster than he was, so he ended up following me there.  As I got nearer the
shower, I thought I heard some strange sounds, something other than just
the water running.  There was no guard standing outside, as would have been
normal, and that concerned me a bit as well.  Not knowing what to expect, I
hustled even faster to get there.  As I threw my towel into the corner of
the entry area, I turned to enter the shower area, however I didn't like
what I saw.  Darren was lying face down on the shower floor, with one of
the two stooges sitting on his head and shoulders, while trapping Darren's
arms against his back.  The other member of the pair was kneeling behind
Darren, and trying to stick his dick up Darren's butt.

I flew in there, almost slipping and falling as I entered, but I grabbed
the dude attacking my friend from behind and flung him off Darren. Seeing
he hadn't heard me enter, this caught him completely by surprise, and I was
able to move him easily, slamming him into the wall.  The other guy looked
up and started to rise to attack me, but I unloosed a good old-fashion
roundhouse punch, which smashed him in the face and knocked him backward,
into the other wall.  At that point the guard must have arrived, because I
heard him shout for help and then blow his whistle, letting the other
guards know there was a problem in one of the cellblocks.  Before he could
enter, the first guy had come back at me, and now had his hands wrapped
around my throat, trying to squeeze the life from me.  Instinctively I
shifted my body, so I was facing him, and then I lifted my knee as quick
and as hard as I could, catching him squarely in the groin.  He released a
big 'ughhhhh', before he buckled over in pain, but I was a little light
headed from not getting any air for a few seconds, so I didn't move right
away.  While I was recovering, I realized the other guy was coming at me
now, and I heard him utter, "You son of a bitch," as he did so.  Everything
was moving in slow motion at this point, but the guy never reached me.  Out
of the corner of my eye I saw the guard poke him in the gut with his
nightstick, causing him to come to a halt and double over in pain too.

By this time another guard had appeared as well, and then two more came
rushing in.  The guard who had brought me back and had assisted me just a
few seconds before, directed the other officers to contain the dumbbell
duo, as we both bent over to check on Darren.  He was still lying prone and
motionless on the floor.  I was very concerned about him, because I had no
idea what they might have done to him before we arrived.  He was conscious
and I didn't see any blood, but he was obviously in a great deal of pain.
We began to question him about where he was hurt and what had happened, but
he was slow in responding.  While we were trying to get the story about
what had happened from him, more guards arrived on the scene, and soon four
of them were taking the dumbbell duo back to the cellblock, while the rest
of them tried to get the remainder of the floor under control.  Once the
first guard had shouted and blown his whistle, all the inmates knew a fight
or something else was going on, so the normal jailhouse shouting and
questioning began, always done in a loud and raucous fashion.  They were
still screaming and shouting at this point, trying to find out what had
happened, so the guards would probably have their hands full trying to
restore order.

The guard who had brought me back from my visit with Jack had stayed with
Darren and me, and one of the other guards had joined him.  Eventually, we
discovered what had taken place.  After the three of them had been led to
the shower, a disturbance had begun in one of the adjoining cellblocks, and
the guard went to check things out and calm everyone down.  As soon as he
left, the dumbbell duo attacked Darren, each pummeling him with several
blows and knocking him to the floor of the shower.  Once he was down, they
pinned him there, just as I had discovered happening when I entered the
shower.  However, fortunately for Darren, neither had time to penetrate him
before I arrived.  I was thankful for that part, but now I began to feel I
had let him down, by not being there when this had happened.

The guards now told us to finish our showers, but I think they just wanted
us to stay here a little longer, so the other guards would have sufficient
time to deal with the other pair.  Darren was a little weak and shaky at
this point, but he was able to finish cleaning himself up, and by the time
we got back to our cellblock, the other pair had been completely removed,
along with all of their belongings.  They had been taken to the isolation
cells on the second floor of the front wing, and they'd be spending a great
deal of time there, before they were released back in with the general
population, if that EVER happened again.

Once we were alone, I went over to speak to Darren.  "Man, I'm so sorry I
let you down and wasn't here to protect you," I explained, though I
couldn't even look him in the eye after what he just went through.

"Why should you be sorry?" he wanted to know.  "You didn't do anything and
there was no way of knowing they'd take us to shower before you got back.
Besides, maybe it was worth it just to get those two out of here."  Now he
forced out a weak grin.

"Are you all right?" I asked him, concerned about how he was handling this.

"Hell, yes.  Except for all the punches I took, they didn't really do
anything to me.  Nobody ever got their dick up my ass either, if that's
what you were wondering."  He winked at me after saying this.

"Darren, that's not what I meant.  I just wanted to make sure you were
okay.  That must have been very traumatic experience for you."

"Hey, I've been in fights before, so I can handle it.  I just have never
had anyone try to rape me before."  This time he wasn't smiling or winking.
"I'll be fine, though.  It takes more than those two assholes to put me out
of action."

"I'm glad to hear that, but I'll try to make sure nothing like that ever
happens to you again while we're in here."

We left it like that, but a guard did come to take Darren to see the
doctor, as soon as the doctor arrived.  The guard insisted I come too, so
the doctor could check out my neck, but I told him I was fine.
Nonetheless, they made me go too, so Darren and I were led down to the
infirmary to be examined.  The doctor checked Darren over first, and then
gave him a clean, but bruised, bill of health.  Next, the doc examined me
and he found nothing seriously wrong, although he gave my throat a thorough
check-up.  After we finished there, the guard took us back to our
cellblock, and Darren and I stayed pretty close to each other for the rest
of that day, only separating after lights out was announced.

Several days later I was informed that the jail administrators had
investigated whether charges should be brought against me, and they even
discussed whether I should lose some of my good behavior time because of
what had happened.  Fortunately, that one guard backed me up completely,
testifying that I had only acted to defend Darren and myself, and I had
used no more force than was necessary.  The panel finally accepted his
explanation and I was exonerated, but the other pair didn't make out quite
as well.  Not only did they both lose all their good time credit, they were
brought up on assault charges as well, and they pled guilty to a lesser
charge, rather than face the possibility of a felony conviction.  They
ended up getting sentenced to another year in jail, with that sentence to
begin as soon as their current sentence was completed.  That meant Darren
and I would be getting out of here long before either of that pair now.
Wasn't that an ironic twist of fate?

Once that was behind us, there was very little excitement during our
remaining days in jail.  We did have one other surprise, however, in that
the jail administrators never put anyone else in our cellblock, leaving the
two of us alone and free from harm and harassment.  During our remaining
time we were able to spread out a bit, and we even got the chance to watch
some television in peace too.  This also left us alone on Valentines Day as
well, which turned out to be a very tough time for me.  During the days
preceding the holiday, Jared was on my mind constantly, and I couldn't
shake the thoughts of him or sweep the memory fragments of things we had
done together from my consciousness.  By late that afternoon I was more
than a little morose, so I isolated myself in my cell.  I think Darren
guessed what my mood was all about, and he sought me out, in an attempt to
make me feel better.

"Hey, Bob.  How about I give you a blowjob this time?" he offered.  I
smiled weakly at him, acknowledging what a generous gesture this was from a
straight guy.

"Thanks, that's sweet of you to offer, but it's not necessary."  He looked
a little disappointed.

"I don't mind, really," he insisted, as he tried to convince me that I
could accept his help.  "I told you before, blowjobs are no big deal.  Even
though I've never given one before, I'm willing to do it for you,
especially considering all you've done for me.  Come on, let me help you
out."  He moved toward me.

"No, you don't need to do that," I told him, figuring he was only trying to
be polite, or maybe this was his effort to pull me out of my funk.

"I know I don't need to, but I want to do this for you.  I won't swallow or
anything, but I really want to be able to do this for you, to pay you back
for doing it for me."

"I told you before I didn't expect any payback, and I know you appreciate
it without your having to go to all this trouble."

"Bob, really.  It would make me feel better, knowing I could do something
else for you too."  I thought about this for a short time, trying to read
his expression as I considered what to do next.  It was apparent this was
very important to Darren, and it certainly wouldn't hurt me any either.
After careful consideration, I finally responded.

"Okay, if you're sure this is what YOU want to do, then we'll do it."  He
shot me a grin, and then I directed him as to how we would go about it.  We
switched our normal positions this time, with him sitting on my desk stool
and me standing beside him, and I gave him some common pointers about how
to do it properly and what type of things he wanted to avoid.  Now that we
were ready, I took out my cock, and Darren took hold of it and began to
work on it immediately.

He actually wasn't doing a bad job for a beginner, but he did gag a few
times, from trying to take too much of my cock at once, even after I had
warned him.  He also let his teeth get in the way a couple of times,
causing me a little discomfort, but it wasn't that bad.  Other than those
minor problems, I was enjoying this attention, and I was slowly building up
to that pinnacle of sensation, as my body began to radiate heat and my skin
began to tingle.  Soon I was telling Darren that he'd better pull off, if
he didn't want me to unload in his mouth, but he continued as before, until
the contents of my nuts exploded up my shaft.

Darren handled this like a trooper, not letting the sudden blasts of hot
fluids interfere with what he was doing or slow him down.  He kept pumping
on me until I had given him all there was to give, and then he eased up,
finally releasing my wilting dick from his lips.  He immediately got up and
spit the contents of his mouth into my toilet bowl, and then he grabbed his
cup, which he'd left in there earlier, filled it with water and rinsed his
mouth out besides.  When he came back over, he looked pleased with himself.
"Well, how did I do?" he wanted to know.

"Terrific," I exaggerated, not wanting to hurt his feelings.  "I didn't
realize how badly I needed that."  Now he seemed to swell with pride, happy
that he had been able to repay me with a suitable performance.

"Okay, now it's my turn to help you," I instructed him.

"You don't have to," he insisted.

"Yes, I do," I countered.  "I know you need it as much, if not more than I
did."  At that moment, I happened to glance over and notice the clock on
the wall outside our cellblock.

"Well, maybe we should wait until after the guards make their next rounds,"
I suggested, "to reduce the chance of our getting caught."  He agreed, and
we sat down to play cards.  It wasn't much longer before the guards passed
by, and we finished our game and then headed back to my cell.  We took up
our usual places, and soon I was doing the old nod and slurp on his fleshy
tool.  Darren was really getting into it this time, even more than usual,
and he was working my mouth like a porn star on steroids.  Before he
dropped his load, my jaw had begun to ache a little and the muscles
operating my jaw were starting to twitch and spasm, but I was able to hold
on until he finally busted a nut.  Once I had drained him of his cream, we
went back out and watched some TV until lights out.

Over the following weeks, I finished my story, including the corrections
and rewrites.  Jack sent the revised copy to my publisher, and the book
actually went to print before I was released from jail.  On one of his
return visits, Jack brought me two copies of the book, telling me he
thought I might find a use for them.  I kept one copy in my cell, and the
other I inscribed with a personal note for Darren, before I gave it to him.
When I handed him that copy, he acted as if I had given him a bar of gold,
and he lovingly took it back to his cell and stuck it away for safekeeping.

With only the two of us in our cellblock now, our situation had improved
greatly.  We could do almost whatever we wanted without hassle.  We still
didn't go to rec, but we began working out in the common area between the
two tables instead.  We started our own exercise program, doing all kinds
of things, like jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, and we
even did some running in place.  We also included isometric type exercises
against the walls, and we worked on getting our heart rates up and
maintaining that level for as long as we could.  Almost immediately, I
began to feel better than I had in quite some time, and I knew the effort
was paying off.

This also helped to make the days go by much more quickly too, and between
the exercising, my writing and Darren's artwork, and the occasional sexual
encounters we would enjoy, the days were flying by for both of us.  Now we
began to focus on our release date, as there were now only thirty days to
go.  On one of Jack's previous visits, I had asked him to go over to
Darren's old apartment and talk to his old roommates, to see if they were
going to be able to take him back when he got out.  He said he'd do that
for me, and I told Darren what we were up to, so he wouldn't think I was
doing things behind his back.  He said he was glad I had thought of this,
but was nervous, yet hopeful about the outcome.

The next time Jack visited, the news wasn't good.  It wasn't that they
didn't want Darren back, but it turned out that none of his friends were
there any more, and someone else was living in that apartment.  Jack had
even tried to contact the college, to locate the guys he had first and last
names for, but they had either dropped out of school or transferred
somewhere else.  This information not only devastated Darren, but it left
him extremely concerned about how he was going to make it when he first got
released.  He had no place to go and no way to support himself.  He began
to envision himself living on the street and working a minimum wage job,
just to have money for food.  That's when I decided it was time for me to
step in and relieve his anxiety.

"You'll do no such thing," I informed him.  "You'll come live with me and
you can stay as long as you want.  How long you stay with me will be
entirely up to you.  If you want, you can leave when you get back on your
feet, or you can stay indefinitely.  It's a big house, and I live alone,
and other than for you, there isn't much chance of that changing any time
soon."  I gave him a chance to think this over, and when I thought he'd had
sufficient time to reach a decision, I asked my next question.  "So, what
do you say?  Will you stay with me?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?  I mean...I could end up being there for
a long time."  He gave me a look that seemed to ask me if I was just being
nice to him, or if I was truly serious about my offer.  I thought I'd
better reassure him this was an honest and sincere proposal.

"Hey, we've just lived together in here for how long and we get along
great.  Besides, I'd love the company.  So what do you say?"  He just lit
up.

"Are you kidding?  I'd love that."  He hugged me now, and it seemed that
his major concern had been addressed to his satisfaction, so now all we had
to do was to hold out and survive our final few days in this place.

I also took this time to tackle a few other issues before I got out.  To
begin with, I was explaining to Jack that I'd be out at 8:00 a.m. on the
fifth, just to let him know when his duties of taking care of everything
for me would end.  However, he cut me off and responded, "Like hell you
will."  I was stunned, and confused as to what he meant by that.  He
quickly clarified his statement for me.

"I've learned from Bruno that prisoners can be released one minute after
midnight, if they have someone to pick them up, so I'll be here before
midnight to get you.  I'm not going to let you spend one extra minute in
this place."  Hey, what could I say?

"Jack, that's really nice of you to offer, but there are other things that
play into this too."

"Like what?"  Now he looked confused.

"I told Darren he could come stay with me, until he got back on his feet,
so it won't be just me getting out that day."

"So what?  I can be responsible for two, just as easily as one.  It won't
be a problem."

"Are you absolutely certain?"  I looked him straight in the eye as I asked
this.  If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then I figured this would
let me know if he really meant what he had said.  He never blinked and he
remained motionless, as if he knew exactly what I was doing.

"I am positive," he finally responded, looking back into my eyes, as if to
emphasize the point.  I thanked him and went back to my cellblock to tell
Darren, and now he was even more excited than before.  It was great to
finally be seeing the light at the end of this tunnel.

No matter how much we did, that last couple of weeks began to drag.  I
guess that was probably due to the fact that we were so anxious to finally
be free of this place.  We did make one minor change in our routine,
however, and that was that we started participating in rec again.  By this
point, nearly everyone who had harassed us before had been released, moved
on to prison, or just didn't care any more, because they were short-timers
too.  It was great to go outside in the lovely spring weather and shoot a
few hoops, or even get involved in a little game.  Due to the fact that we
had been working out on our own, we were in pretty good shape and had more
than adequate endurance, which seemed to surprise some of the other
inmates.  It was neat to be able to do this again, and it was something
different to help relieve our boredom.

Another thing that helped out was when our final chance to buy from the
inmate store came along.  I used this opportunity to place a special order,
so we could throw a little going away party.  Because it was warmer weather
now, the guards had added ice cream cones, ice cream bars, and Popsicles to
the order form, and those items caught my attention.  I ordered one ice
cream cone and one ice cream bar for each of us, along with another
six-pack of soda.  We still had snacks left on the tables, as that's where
we kept everything now that we were alone, so I didn't need to order any of
those.  Once my order was delivered, we pigged out before we went back to
our cells, and then we began to pack up the items we were going to take
with us, leaving out only what we would need for that final day or so.
Everything else we'd planned to throw away before we left, as we didn't
want any additional reminder about our time here.  We were both getting so
excited now, that it was hard to concentrate on anything else.

We spent most of our final hours in jail playing cards, watching TV, or
working out.  In fact, we were almost working ourselves into frenzy, sort
of like sharks at feeding time, when the scent of blood is in the water.
However, what WE were smelling was our freedom, and the aroma was driving
us wild.  I just hoped I didn't get too excited and pop a blood vessel
before I got released.

On our final evening in jail, the time between dinner and lights out seemed
to drag on forever.  We used that time to discard most of the items we no
longer wanted, but we decided to leave both decks of cards and the UNO deck
on the table for the next residents in this hell hole.  Hopefully, that
might be enough to take the edge off their loneliness and despair, making
their stay here a little easier.  Doing all of those things took less than
an hour, so we had plenty of time left over, and nothing we did seemed to
make the time go any quicker.  The minutes seemed to tick away more slowly
now than they did during those final few days before Christmas, back when
we were kids.  Every time I looked up at the clock hanging on the outer
wall, it seemed as though the hands hadn't moved at all since I last looked
at it.  Darren and I were as jittery as virgins at a porno festival or a
kid in a toy store.  Our prize was still just out of our grasp, but we knew
eventually we'd finally get it.

When lights out was announced, we reluctantly walked into our cells for the
final time.  Everything was in order and we were both ready to leave, but
we still had one more hour to endure, before we got to use our 'get out of
jail free' cards and were able to finally pass go.  That last hour alone
was the longest of all, as there was nothing or no one to distract you from
thinking about your imminent departure.  It was almost as if you were
watching the clock, counting off all sixty seconds for each of the sixty
minutes that still remained in your sentence.  It was worse than torture.

Finally, we heard the guard coming to get us, and he summoned us from our
cells.  We followed him down to an area where we'd trade in our jailhouse
jumpsuits for the clothes we wore in here.  After putting my clothes on, I
was surprised at how roomy those items were on me now, and it just brought
home the fact of how much weight I had lost during my stay.  I was happy
about slimming down, but I wouldn't recommend this health club or diet to
anyone.

As we were led out to the front desk, we could see Jack waiting there for
us, with a big, silly grin plastered across his face.  He was one special
guy.  Once the paperwork had been completed, we picked up our paper bags
filled with the items we were taking with us, and we followed Jack to his
car.  Darren and I both let out a little cheer of relief as we shut his car
doors behind us, and he drove us home.  He came into the house too, to show
me where he'd placed the items I had left in his custody, and then Darren
and I both shook his hand and thanked him for everything he had done for
us.

After Jack left, I gave Darren a quick tour of the house, and then I gave
him a towel, showed him to the room at the end of the hall, and showed him
where he could clean up before he turned in.  If you hadn't noticed, I
didn't give him Jared's room, because my heart just wouldn't let me do that
yet.  While Darren was showering, I did the same in my own room, and it
felt good to be able to take as long as I wanted in there, using a real bar
of soap and an actual bottle of shampoo to boot.  When I finished with that
simple luxury, I dried off, slipped into some clean underwear, and crawled
in between those nice clean sheets on that very comfortable bed.

I slept like a baby that first night home, and when I woke the following
morning, I almost forgot where I was.  After I got my bearings, I got up,
used the toilet, and then I walked down to check on Darren, but he was
still asleep.  I decided to go downstairs, put on a pot of coffee, and get
things ready so I could make breakfast for us, as soon as Darren joined me.
About an hour later he came stumbling down the stairs, clad only in his
underwear, and looking like he should have slept for another few hours.

"Good morning," I greeted him, as he joined me in the dining room.  "Did
you sleep well?"

"Sleep well?  It was absolutely fantastic," he replied.  "I almost forgot
what it was like to sleep on a real bed."  He smiled dreamily.

"Are you hungry?" I continued.

"Yeah, starved."

"What would you like?  I can whip up some pancakes, French toast, an
omelette, eggs of any style, toast, English muffins, bagels...you name it
and I've got it.  It appears Jack either went shopping for me, or he had
the company I use do it instead."

"I'm impressed with the choices, but a omelette sounds nice, maybe with ham
and cheese?"

"That sounds great to me too, so I'll whip one up for both of us.  How
about a bagel to go with that, toasted and with cream cheese?"

"Yeah, okay.  Good idea."

I fixed our breakfast and we took our time eating it, enjoying every
leisurely bite.  Once we had finished that brief repast, we rinsed off our
dishes and put them in the dishwasher, before I gave Darren the complete
tour of my home.  I could tell he was impressed, especially when he saw the
pool, and I knew he'd fit in well here.  However, I wondered how I was
going to do now that I was back home, as everything I saw began to remind
me of Jared.

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