Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 03:34:14 EDT
From: Dakotajoe2000@cs.com
Subject: Hanging By A Moment, Chapter Ten

	This story is copyrighted and the sole possession of the author. No
duplication is permitted without the express written consent of the
author. It will contain graphic description of consensual male to male sex
and may be offensive to some. If this is not something you wish to read,
please look elsewhere. Certain events in the story are based loosely on
real events so the names of the characters, with the exception of mine,
have been changed to reflect that. Hanging By A Moment is the title of a
song by Lifehouse. Constructive email can be sent to Dakotajoe2000@cs.com

	Chapter Ten

	Nick was resting softly on the mattress laying in the living room.
There was an arm draped over his chest and a soft breeze blew in through
the partially open sliding glass doors.  Shadows crept across the ceiling
as daylight grew. His eyes slowly opened and he looked at the boy sleeping
beside him.  There had been months of nights just like this one but on this
morning he didn't have to admonish himself for not moving on.  He was
grateful today that he hadn't.  He shifted slightly, pulling the boy's arm
a little as he did so.  The boy moved in response but settled back into his
slumber.  Nick gently kissed his hand and smiled.  He hoped there would be
more mornings like this.

	I woke this morning with Jason.  It sounds really weird to be
saying that, but I think I'm going to like this.  I ..........woke this
morning.....with Jason!  He was laying next to me still sleeping soundly.
I had to move his arm a little bit so that I could be more comfortable, but
it was awesome.  He shifted a little bit when I did that.  I was half
tempted to move him some more but I held back.  He looks so cute when he's
resting.
	I didn't lay that way for long though.  It doesn't matter how
comfortable I am, or what the situation may be, I can only lay for so long
before I get bored.  Really bored.  I squirmed away from Jason a bit and I
think he mumbled something, but I couldn't make it out.  I grabbed my
t-shirt off the floor and pulled it over my torso.  The room was a bit
chilly, so I made sure to pull the comforter over my sleeping beauty.  I
plodded into the kitchen and found the filters for the coffee pot.  There
were some basic every day things in my apartment that I still hadn't found
and I decided to make that a priority for the day.  I set my morning brew
in motion and headed for the balcony.  Jason was still sleeping peacefully,
so I made as little noise as I could.  The sun was up now, but still hiding
behind the mountains so it cast a golden glow over the still slumbering
city.
	The apartment complex's automatic sprinkler system kicked in just
off to my right, watering the array of brightly colored summer flowers.
It's funny how sometimes you know what a noise is, but you have to take a
look in that direction anyway.  Maybe it's just a human curiosity.  I
glanced in that direction and adjusted my eyes to the sunlight.  Brilliant
rays of sunlight were now streaming over the roof of an adjacent building
bathing the landscape in daylight.  The birds seemed to enjoy that,
chirping louder to announce the start of the day.  Jason set a cup of
coffee in front of me and then sat Indian style just across from me with
his cup.  Am I good?  He smiled at me.
	"Good morning."
	"Good morning, yourself stud."  I grinned at him.  "So, did you
sleep well?"
	"Yeah," he said.  "It was nice being with you."
	"You think so too, huh?  I get to wake with me at my side every day
and I've never been unhappy with it."  I grinned at him, smiling from ear
to ear. He tousled my hair and I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch.
	"You're silly.  Can I trade you in for another model?"
	"You're more than welcome to.  You are the consumer after all, but
I think I need to sell you on some of my finer points before you make that
decision."
	"Hmm."  He purred at me.  "What are some of those finer points?  If
you sell me just right, I may even want to take a test drive."
	"Oh, I'm sorry sir.  We don't let our models test drive, but I'd be
more than happy to demonstrate with our showroom model."  This was getting
silly.  I liked it.
	"I guess," he sighed.
	I leaned in ever so slightly.  I could see him inhale, expecting me
to kiss him.  I just sat there for a minute.  He opened his right eye to
peek at me and then he opened the other one.  He raised his eyebrow
slightly as if to question me.  I smiled at him and moved a little closer.
He inhaled again but this time he didn't close his eyes.  This guy was
smart.  I giggled a little bit knowing that he had beat me at my own game.
I lifted a hand to his cheek, with a soft passing glance and then let it
rest on his neck.  There were soft kisses at first, just little pecks on
the lips.  One of my pecks lingered and I felt him part his lips for me.
Our tongues met in the chilly Oregon air but I don't think either one of us
was bothered by it.  My forehead rested against his and I looked deeply
into his eyes.  They weren't as talkative as they had been that afternoon
at the beach just a week ago.  I was okay with that.  We didn't need
conversation of any kind at the moment and our eyes can sometimes speak
louder than our words.  He took a sip of his now luke warm coffee and spoke
to me.
	"Mmm.  I have to start getting ready.  Pete wants me at the shop a
little early today to open since I left a bit early last weekend."
	"Last weekend?"  I guess I was stupid.
	"Uh, yeah.  I remember that last Sunday it rained and business was
slow.  I had this silly notion to take a walk on the beach.  Somehow, go
figure, I found this pitiful thing bawling in the sand and I had pity on it
and took it home.  Strays, I tell you."
	I was about to speak when he put a finger to my lips and continued.
	"The funny thing about it though is that I've always wanted a stray
just like the one I got.  I've connected to him in the last five days and I
don't think I want to give him up.  Someone will be unhappy they lost such
a nice creature, but I count my blessings every day."
	He kissed me softly on my lips.
	"I just hope he isn't too expensive to feed.  These types can eat a
lot, or so I've heard."
	I cocked my head at him.
	"No, dear.  The food shouldn't be your concern.  I would think it's
keeping him properly dressed in the finest Abercrombie and JCrew apparel to
make the other strays jealous.  You never know what would happen if you
took him for a walk and he didn't get attention.  He might just rebel."
	"You're something else, you know that?  I really do need to get
going though."
	He scratched my head as if I were a little puppy, so I did the
appropriate thing and I whimpered for him.
	"Where are you off to?" I asked.
	"Home."  He grinned at me.  "I'm living with Trey here in town, but
I stay with Pete on the weekends.  I have to work today and tomorrow, but
I'll be back in town on Monday."
	"I'll miss you."
	"Jeez.  We don't need sappy stuff Nick.  I'm not leaving for that
long.  How about I give you a call this evening?"
	"I'd like that very much.
	He opened the door to leave but as he did so, he gave me another
quick kiss.
	"Oh, and about the sappy stuff....I don't mind it so much, but I
don't want to ruin what we have, okay?"
	I didn't need to answer him and he understood that.  I grabbed his
hand and wished him well.  I closed the door behind him and leaned against
it for about a minute.  I didn't have to rest long though...the phone rang
in the kitchen and I knew I needed to dig into the work ahead of me.

	I spent a long time working in the kitchen during the afternoon.  I
don't really know what the property management thought of the place, but it
was downright gross.  I had a can of Comet at my disposal and I used an
entire can in the kitchen.  The cabinets got a really good scrubbing,
inside and out, with grease just pouring off of the panels.  The
refrigerator was pretty nasty too and I used quite a bit of 409 with it.
Once I was satisfied with my progress in the kitchen, I headed for the
bathroom.  I was out of Comet, so I had to settle for Soft Scrub.  I guess
it did the job though, because the whole bathroom was sparkling when I got
done.  There were some things that I really needed for my apartment, so I
decided to go shopping.
	After getting myself cleaned up to a point of respectability, I
headed out.  I decided to find my mailbox.  It was a nice little walk
around the corner, but I found it.  I pulled out my keys to find the right
key when she spoke.
	"Hi."
	I glanced over really quick and gave my obligatory response.
	"Hi."
	I looked again.  This girl was really cute!  I extended my hand to
her.
	"Nick."
	"Faith."
	I melted.  For a gay guy, it's hard to do....but she had something.
	"You're new here, aren't you?"
	I stuttered for a minute and even dropped my keys.
	"Uh.  um, yeah."  I looked behind me, not quite sure what I was
looking for.  I had my back to her, but I pointed anyway. "I live in that
one over there."
	"That's cool."  She smiled at me.
	"Um.  I think I'm going to Fred Meyer's to do some shopping."
	"Okay." She winked at me. "I'll see you around, I imagine."
	I choked again.  I dropped my keys for the second time and had a
hard time understanding what the big deal was.
	"Uh.  Yeah.  Bye."

	I thought about walking to the store, seeing as it was just down
the street.  I probably would have if I didn't have so much to buy.  I had
some apartment decorating ideas that I wanted to research too, so having a
car handy might come in handy.  I spent the better part of the afternoon in
the store.  I looked at clothes and for the life of me I don't understand
why.  I had so much work to do at home that this was wasted time.  I also
stopped at the jewelry counter and looked at mens rings.  That was really
jumping the gun.  I had to shake myself out of it.  I was pushing a cart
full of household items towards the grocery area when I bumped into Faith.
	"Hey!" she said.
	`Funny seeing her here,' I thought to myself.  I gave her a wary
eye, but welcomed her presence nonetheless.
	"Hi."
	"For the new place?"  She motioned to the cart.
	Geesh.  What a dumb question.
	"Yeah, it is.  I'm just gonna check out and take it to my car
before I shop for food.  It's probably easier that way."
	"Cool.  Nick, can I tell you something?"
	`Uh oh.'  I looked past her as if something caught my eye.  I let
her continue.
	"I didn't come here to shop."
	`As if that wasn't obvious,' I silently thought again.
	"I was hoping that I'd run into you.  Well, I knew I'd run into
you.  You told me you were going to be here."
	She looked a little warm and I was getting there pretty quick
myself.  I started to put some of the items up on the belt.  I looked at
the cashier who gave me a toothy smile.  I was a bit startled so I looked
back at her again.  She had her head cocked to one side and was fingering a
recent issue of TV Guide.  I stopped putting things up on the belt and she
stopped fidgeting with the magazine.  I don't know how it happened, but it
was all in slow motion.  She leaned in to me, using my shoulder as a
support.  I felt lips and they didn't belong to Jason.
	It was over quickly.  I pulled back and almost fell onto the
floor. The cart squirted away from me and out into the middle of the aisle.
The cashier's toothy smile had been replaced with a questioning look.  I
blushed at him and tried to straighten myself up.  He continued with his
scanning and I turned to address the new drama in my life.
	"Faith?"
	"Oh my, Nick.  I'm so sorry."
	She was shaking her head back and forth with vigor.
	"I guess I just got caught up in the moment.  I'm so sorry."
	"Faith?  Please, look at me."
	At this point, the cashier had done everything he could and was
just watching the scene unfold in front of him. She raised her head and
pulled back the strawberry blond hair that was shielding her eyes.  She was
beautiful.
	"I'm going to be very honest here.  You're a very attractive young
girl.  Your eyes are magnetic and the color of your hair is something you'd
only find in a magazine."
	She blushed and looked away from me.  I brought her eyes back to
mine with a finger on her chin.
	"That kiss....it shouldn't have happened.  My boyfriend probably
wouldn't approve."  I wasn't sure what response I would get, so I just
looked at the floor.
	She stuttered.
	"Your, boyfriend?"
	"Yeah missy," our cashier friend said. "His boyfriend.  Can we move
on?"
	I started putting the rest of the stuff up on the belt, afraid to
look at her.  She was silent for a minute, probably processing what she's
just heard.
	"So, you're gay?"
	"Yeah."  I still couldn't look at her.
	"I guess that means you'll need a shopping buddy since you're new
in town."
	The cashier was stupefied.  He was probably sick to his stomach
too.  I laughed so hard that I had to brace myself on the candy rack that
opposed me.  I looked back at her and she had a broad smile plastered on
her face.
	"I think that would be cool."
	I took a free hand and brushed the back side of my fingers against
her cheek, pushing away some renegade strands of hair.

	The evening flew by.  Faith came home with me and helped me unpack
the things that I had bought.  The groceries had been bagged in paper so
that they were easier to separate.  I put the cold stuff into it's
appropriate place and then set to work on some other stuff.  We both
traipsed back to the bathroom and got it into order.  I put the shower
curtain up while she lined the cabinets under the sink with shelf paper.
It was a simple green contact paper.  I had learned it was easier to hide
the dirt that way and a quick wipe would take care of any spills.  After
the bath mat and toilet cover were placed we both stood back and admired
our handiwork.  You couldn't tell it was the bathroom of a gay boy unless
you were told.  I'm sure the bedroom was going to be a different issue
though.
	Faith and I were in the kitchen when the phone rang.  I was
standing on a stool putting assorted plastic wares above the refrigerator.
She walked over to the phone on the wall.  As she did so, she took her
fingernails and ran them across my belly.  I'm not ticklish, except in one
situation....and that is when I'm horny.  I had made the mistake of telling
her that and she had been trying all night to get me to that point.  It
didn't work until now.  She had a blow pop in her mouth and made a slurping
sound as she answered.  I was trying hard not to fall off the stool.
	"Hello?"
	There was nothing on the other end.
	"Hello?" she said again.  She held the phone away from her ear and
looked at me for direction.  I nodded at her.
	"It's probably Jason and he doesn't know who's answering.  Just go
with it."
	"Is this Jason?"  She was aggressive in her tone.
	"Yeah, it is.  Who is this?"
	"This is Faith."  That was all she said.  I liked the way this girl
thought.  I grinned.
	"Nick.  Yeah, is Nick there."
	She put the blow pop back into her mouth and looked at me.  Another
slurping sound was produced as she pulled it out.  I almost couldn't
control myself.  I was trying so hard not to laugh.
	"Yup.  He sure is."
	I could only imagine what was going through his mind.  A girl
answers the phone and what in the world are those noises?  I smirked in
recognition.
	"Can I talk with him?"
	"MAY I talk with him?"
	Jason sighed, exasperated.
	"May I talk with him?"
	"Sure, hang on."
	She handed me the phone and started back in on the pantry.  She was
arranging the cereal boxes for me.  We were having problems finding room
for everything I had purchased.
	"Hello?"
	"Was that a question?  Do you even need to ask who this is?"
	"Hey baby!  Aww, c'mon.  You know about young cute guys that
solicit at night.  I was just being cautious."  I smiled at Faith who had
her head poking out of the closet.  She was holding up a box of Fruit
Roll-Ups, as if to question why I had them.  "So, how was your day?"
	"I'm still here.  We're closing up now but Pete let me use the
phone so that I could call before it got too late.  Say, who's the girl?"
	"We'll talk about that when you get back."  I sighed into the
phone.  "I'm looking forward to holding you again."
	"Yeah, me too.  Hey, I gotta go.  I don't want to let the other
guys down."
	"Mm'kay.  Night babe."

	Jason hung up the phone and I scaled the wall to put it back in its
cradle.  Faith was almost done with the pantry and I was almost done with
my assortment of kitchen products.  We decided that it was as good of a
time as any to just sit and relax.  We pulled out a pint of Ben and Jerry's
"World's Best Vanilla" and went to town.  The conversation was varied, but
mostly revolved around Jason.  She wanted to know all about the man that
had captured my heart.  We were talking about Cannon Beach and the frequent
rains when someone knocked at the door.  I glanced at the clock as I stood
to answer it; we had been talking for more than an hour.  I opened the door
and there stood Jason, still looking very much like a pizza shop had
decided to open business on his shirt.

************************************************************************
That's all for this one.  More to come in short order.  Creative comments
and/or criticisms can be sent to Dakotajoe2000@cs.com