Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 16:54:49 -0500 From: Jayson Vascardi Subject: Tale of Three 9 A Tale of Three By J.C. Vascardi -o-0-o- Legal Disclaimer: This story is fictional, as are the characters featured herein, which are solely the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental. If you are under the age of eighteen, offended by male/male material, or if such material cannot be legally viewed where you live, then you should be leaving now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story. Character Profiles: http://jayson.worldofslash.com/a-tale-of-three/profiles/index.htm Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesbyjayson Writing Journal: http://jaycolin.livejournal.com This story is ©2004-2010, 2011 by J.C. Vascardi. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied, in whole or in part, posted on any other website, or included in any form of book or media, without the explicit written permission of the author. -o-0-o- Chapter Nine, Part One Andrew's Perspective Thursday, January 6, 2005 -o-0-o- After Kevin and our cousins told Jay and I what had happened, I'd be lying if I said that some part of me didn't get a perverse sense of pleasure from knowing that their parents were forcing these four spoiled rich kids to "slum it." I quickly banished such thoughts from my head though because Jay and I were raised to not take pleasure in other people's misfortune. While it is true that it would probably be the best thing that Victor, Blanche, Adam, and Gladys had ever done for their children in the long run, I knew that Kevin and my cousins would see it as the worst misfortune of their lives--even worse than having to get used to wearing a kilt, which was required dress on Sundays at the boarding school we had all attended. Jay and I didn't really mind that because we sort of enjoyed immersing ourselves in another culture, but I digress. Something else that crossed my mind was the fact that I knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that whatever the reason that Victor, Blanche, Adam, and Gladys had for cutting their children off, forcing them to get jobs, and attend college, helping their children had absolutely nothing to do with it. Even if that is what their actions did in the long run, it was much more likely that they were doing it to once again reaffirm who the boss was, who held the purse strings, and also to inflict as much pain and suffering on their children as they could; as if the cold distance and harsh words hadn't done that enough already. I knew that it caused them great strife to ask, but it wasn't long before Kevin and our cousins asked Jay and me for help. Much to our surprise, however, they did not ask us to secretly support them, as we would have expected them to. They actually asked us to help them find jobs, figuring that we'd probably know the Wilmington job market better than they would because we lived here. Despite their obvious distress over their new found state of poverty, they seemed willing to at least try to adapt to their new circumstances, which Jay and I had to give them credit for because we would have thought that they would have spent several days moping and complaining about it first. I guess Jay and I underestimated Kevin and our cousins a bit. "Well, guys," I said, "Jay and I will, of course, do what we can to help you, but I'm afraid we don't really know that much about the job market in Wilmington." "Yes, unfortunately that is one area we definitely aren't knowledgeable in. Not to rub it in or anything, but Drew and I have been concentrating on our degrees and hence living off our trust funds, rather than going out and getting jobs." "That's okay," Tiernan said after a moment. He sighed and then added, "I'm sure we can find something." "You know, I just thought of something," I said as an idea struck me. "Jay and I might not be able to help you, but Dan, Matt, and Kyle might be able to." "That is a good idea, Drew," Jay said with an approving nod. "Who are Dan, Matt, and Kyle?" "Well, there are three apartments on this floor," I said. "The one you will be staying in, this one, plus one other. The tenants there are Jordan Miller, Matthew Lawson, and Kyle Bradley. They're all students at UNC. We're not taking the same degrees, so we don't have many classes with them, but we've gotten to know them pretty well from living next door to them. They're very nice guys." "I don't suppose they're cute and single, are they?" Tristan asked with a hopeful look on his face. "They're all good-looking and gay," Jay said, "but don't get any ideas, Tech, Alex. They're together." "Together?" Tiernan asked, as if not grasping Jay's meaning. After a moment, a look of realization came over his face and he asked, "Oh, you mean?" "Yes, the three of them are together," I said. "They're totally committed to each other. They all work though, so I'm sure they probably have a better knowledge of the job market." "Oh, and Jordan's older sister, Jessica," Jay added, "is an interior designer. She's actually the one who decorated our apartment. She also decorated their apartment though, so she is adept at decorating on a much smaller budget then what we gave her. She might be able to help you with your new apartment as well." "Well, that's a good thing," Kevin said. "I, for one, know that I don't really know the first thing about buying furniture, let alone buying furniture on a small budget. Hell, I don't know the first thing about buying anything on a budget. I've never had one before." I just nodded in response to Kevin's statement, which was in fact very true. All four of them very likely had at least one credit card with an unlimited holding and, until recently, they had also all been getting monthly allowances from their trust funds which totaled together for the year would be more than the average person made in a year. "Helping you guys may also help them in a way," Jay said after a moment of thought. "How could helping us help them?" Trevor asked, obviously confused. "Well, they're dealing with an issue with Kyle's family right now," I said. "Kyle's brother Sean recently came back to town. They haven't seen him in years and, from what I've heard, he's got a very bad gambling problem. He's also an alcoholic and a drug addict, so anything that might help get Kyle's mind off of that would probably be welcome." Tiernan, Tristan, Trevor, and Kevin just nodded, and then Drew said, "Well, come on guys. Our dad does own this building, so I'm sure the building superintendent will let us in to see your new apartment. I've never actually seen it myself, so I am kind of curious. All I know is that it's the size of Jay's and my apartment combined with Dan, Matt, and Kyle's apartment." "Just don't gloat too much guys that you have a bigger apartment," I said with a grin as the six of us headed out. "Our apartment may be smaller, but we also had a quarter-million dollar decorating budget." -o-0-o- Chapter Nine, Part Two Brian's Perspective Thursday, January 6, 2005 -o-0-o- After we ate the after-school snack of milk and grilled cheese sandwiches that Aaron's mom made us, Jayden and I did as Aaron's mom asked and called our parents to ask for permission to spend the night. Jayden called home first, and not only did his mom give him permission, but she said that she'd send his older brother Joshua over with an overnight bag for him. At that time, Josh Travis lived in Chicago, but he had come down to Wilmington over the holidays to visit his family and then stayed on for a few days because he landed a modeling job in the area. As it would turn out, my stepmother was at Jayden's house at the time, having coffee with his mom. Much like Nick and Aaron, Jayden and I are next door neighbors, so his mom and my stepmother are good friends. After getting permission from her to spend the night, she told me that she'd take Josh next door and pack an overnight bag for me so that he could bring it over along with Jayden's. Once the permission was obtained, the four of us headed into the den to start on our various homework assignments for the day before breaking out our history books to study for tomorrow's test. We'd all just finished our homework when Aaron's mom came in, followed by a tall, brown-haired, and muscular young man whom I knew to be Jayden's older brother, Joshua. I was six years old when my mother died and eight when my dad re-married, at which point we moved from Rhinelander, Wisconsin to Wilmington. We moved into the house next door to Joshua and Jayden, and while I became friends with Jayden rather quickly, I never really got to know Joshua that well at that point. It was probably because of the fact that Jayden and I are about a month apart in age while Josh is eight years older. So, at the time, sixteen-year-old Josh was, while not adverse to it, not exactly keen on spending a ton of time with his eight-year-old brother and his friends. Not that I really minded, because I was having plenty of fun with Jayden and I didn't really notice Josh. Of course, that all changed about a month or so after my tenth birthday when I caught myself sneaking as many glimpses of Josh as I could possibly get away with, without getting caught or looking too suspicious. I guess you could say I was an early bloomer, as I pretty much realized then that I was gay. I suppose some part of me always knew that I was different from many of the other boys my age, but I'd never really known what that difference was until I began to realize just how hot my best friend's older brother was. I had a major crush on him and, for a few years after he'd left for college in Chicago, he was the subject of more than one wet dream or fantasy. It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year and the beginning of my junior year in high school that I finally managed to get over my crush on Josh. Now, while I was past having a crush on him at that point, I still couldn't help but think that he looked very hot. He was wearing a pair of tight black leather pants and a short-sleeved black silk shirt left unbuttoned to reveal a black ribbed a-shirt beneath. "Hey Josh," Jayden said in greeting to his brother. "Hey Jade," Josh said with a smile. "Hello Brian, Nick, Aaron." "Hello," Nick and Aaron said in unison. "I'll just take these upstairs," Karen said as she took the two gym bags that Josh was carrying, "and leave you five alone to chat." "Well, pull up a chair and sit down if you like," Nick said as he motioned to one of the free chairs sitting around the den's table. Josh grabbed one of the chairs, turned it, and then sat down backwards, resting his arms on the back of the chair. "So how are you guys doing?" "We're doing well," I said with a smile. "Did you hear the news?" "What news is that?" Josh asked. "Aaron's mom is pregnant," I replied. "Oh really?" Josh said. "Well, congratulations, Aaron. Any idea what it is yet?" "Yeah, it's a boy," Aaron said. "Mom just found out today. Said she'd sit down with Nick's Uncle Erik, who is the father, later tonight to discuss baby names and such. Said she'd also email my cousins, Nat and Jon, so that they can tell Aunt Lauren and Uncle Thomas." "Nat and Jon?" I asked. "Aren't they the conjoined ones?" "Yeah, they are," Nick said. "Joined from the waist down. They don't share any vital organs, though they do share a leg." "They decided that they didn't want to be separated," Aaron said, "despite the unpopularity of such a decision." "Well, it's their lives and their bodies," Josh said, and I thought I caught a slight gleam in his eye. "What they do with them is their own decision. How old are they anyway?" "They'll be twenty-one in June," Aaron said. "My other cousins, Jesse and Jason--their older brothers--have been trying to get them to move down here from Minneapolis for a while, but they haven't done it yet. I guess they're a bit leery about starting over in a new city. Back home, just about everyone they come into contact with on a daily basis is used to them by now and don't really care, but moving here would likely get them more than a few people staring at them." "It's really a shame that people are so close minded about such things," Jayden said. "They're perfectly normal human beings who just happen to be connected. That fact alone shouldn't be the basis of all judgments that people make in regard to them." "I'd have to agree with that," I said. "I mean, I've never met them myself, but from what Aaron has said, they're very nice." Joshua shifted a bit in his chair, and if I wasn't sure earlier, now I knew for sure that there had definitely been a gleam in his eyes listening to us talk about Nathan and Jonathan Fox, and I don't mean just any gleam. I've seen a similar gleam in other people's eyes enough times to know that Josh was actually getting turned on at the thought of Nathan and Jonathan. A quick glance at his crotch when he wasn't looking and my suspicion was proven when I realized that his tight leather pants looked much tighter now in that vicinity. I was too much of a gentlemen to bring something like that up in front of everyone, so I decided to file that little tidbit of information away for future reference. Obviously hoping to change the subject before anyone noticed his condition, Josh then asked, "So, what are you guys up to?" Before anyone could answer though, Karen walked into the doorway and said, "Josh, could you stay and keep an eye on them for a little while? I have to go and pick Nick's Uncle Erik up. I drove him to the courthouse this morning, so he doesn't have his car." "Sure, Mrs. Forrester, no problem," Josh said with a smile. "Mom!" Aaron said. "Nick, Brian, Jayden and I are sixteen. We don't need Josh to baby-sit while you're gone." Not being able to resist the lure of it, I grinned and said, "Correction, Aaron. Nick, Jayden, and I are sixteen. You, on the other hand, are only four, so I think you definitely need a babysitter." Everyone in the room, except for Josh who didn't understand my comment and Aaron since it was at his expense, laughed. Karen just shook her head before leaving. Once the laughter had died down, Josh spoke up and said, "What do you mean Aaron is only four?" "He means that technically I've only celebrated my birthday four times," Aaron said. "I was born on February 29th, so my real birthday only comes every four years and Nick, and now Brian it seems, can't help but rub that in all the bloody time!" "Now guys, you know that really isn't very nice," Josh said. "Aaron can't help what day he was born any more than the rest of you. You shouldn't make fun of him just because he was born on leap-day." "Thank you, Josh!" Aaron said with a smile. "So, what are you guys up to anyway?" Josh asked again. "Just finished our homework for the day," Nick said. "We have a history test tomorrow that we have to study for." "Want some help?" Josh asked. "History and art were my best subjects in school." "Sure, that'd be great," I said. "Lessens the stress on Jayden a bit." "I suppose you've already finished studying, right lil' bro?" "Of course," Jayden replied. "I've been done studying for a week now." "I've said it before and I'll say it again," Josh said with a grin. "No offense Jade, but you really need to get a life." This time everyone in the room, except for Jayden of course, laughed. Eventually though, even Jayden came around and laughed at his brother's comment, even if it was a bit of a dig at his expense. Once the laughter died down, Nick, Aaron, Jayden, and I all pulled out our history books and notes and started studying with help from Josh. -o-0-o- Chapter Nine, Part Three Erik's Perspective Thursday, January 6, 2005 -o-0-o- "Hello Karen," I said with a smile as I put my briefcase in the backseat of her car and got in. "Thanks for picking me up." "No problem, Erik," Karen said. "We have some guests this evening, though I'm not sure yet if they'll be at your house or mine." "Oh really? Who?" I asked. "Brian Foster and Jayden Travis," Karen said. "Aaron invited them to spend the night tonight. I guess they all have a history test tomorrow, so they plan on studying tonight. They were all about to start studying when I left." "You didn't leave them alone, did you?" I asked. "I mean, I trust that they wouldn't get into any trouble, but still, four teenage boys alone in a house..." I trailed off with a grin and Karen nodded. "No, I didn't leave them alone. Jayden's older brother Joshua came over with overnight bags for Brian and Jayden, so I asked him to stay with them while I came to pick you up." "All right," I said. "So, how was your pre-natal appointment today?" "It was fine," Karen said as we pulled out of the courthouse parking lot. "Oh, come on," I said. "I want more details then that. It is my baby too, after all." Karen just smiled and said, "You fancy the idea of a son, daddy?" "A son?" I asked with a smile. "It's a boy?" Karen just nodded, at which point I asked, "So, I suppose we'll need to start thinking about names." "I've been thinking about that since finding out," Karen said, "and I was wondering how you'd feel about Lance Aaron Jensen?" "Hmm, that's fine by me," I replied. "As I said when we were thinking about names last time, I don't really care if the baby is named after me or not. I certainly don't have a problem if you want to name our son after Lance and Aaron." "I'm glad you don't mind," Karen said. "Most men might not care for having their son named after the mother's late husband." "I suppose that's true," I said. "Of course, as I'm sure you'll remember, Lance and I were very good friends, especially considering his relationship with Nickolas and the events that followed our finding out about Nickolas' death." "Yes, that's true," Karen said. "You think we should ever tell Nick and Aaron about that?" "Karen, I really don't think that Nick and Aaron would want to know about that," I said as I thought back to a couple of years before Karen and Lance were married. Lance Forrester was bisexual, so in high school, while he was good friends with Karen, they didn't start dating until after Lance broke up with his high school boyfriend, who happened to be my late older brother and my nephew Nick's father, Nickolas Jensen. They broke up very amicably and continued to be very good friends afterward. Years later after Nickolas and his wife died, Lance and I sought comfort in each other when we found out. We had a bit too much to drink that night and before either of us even realized what was happening, we were in bed together. Karen was understandably upset at first, but she eventually forgave both Lance and I, knowing that we were both drunk and out of our minds with grief over Nickolas' death. Of course, part of the reason that Karen forgave Lance and I so quickly was because knowing that her husband was bisexual, she'd always secretly harbored a fantasy about seeing her husband with another man and possibly joining in. So, shortly after Karen forgave Lance and I about our drunken night of passion, Lance and I had sex for a second time, only this time with Karen in the room watching it and later joining in and having sex with both her husband and me. It only happened that one time, and Karen and I didn't have sex with one another again until after Lance, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty during a bank robbery. "You're probably right," Karen said after a moment, having obviously thought back to the events herself. "They might be able to handle the fact that Lance dated Nick's father in high school, but everything else we should probably continue to refrain from mentioning." "Yeah," I said as Karen pulled into her driveway. "Most children really do not want to know about their parents' sex lives." "True," Karen said as we got out of the car and headed into her house. "Well, I'm going to go and e-mail Jonathan and Nathan so that they can tell Lauren and Thomas about the baby. Why don't you go into the den, say hello to the boys, and invite Joshua to stay for dinner?" "Good idea," I said with a smile as I set my briefcase down under the small table near the front door and hung my suit jacket on the coat rack as Karen headed upstairs to her bedroom to go online and e-mail her nephews. -o-0-o- Chapter Nine, Part Four Jayden's Perspective Thursday, January 6, 2005 -o-0-o- Later that night, around nine-thirty, I followed Nick, Aaron, and Brian upstairs to Aaron's bedroom at his mom's house. Upon reaching the bedroom, Brian and I hung our overnight bags over the back of Aaron's desk chair as Nick and Aaron grabbed pillows from the bed and placed them on the floor in a circle. After we finished all of our studying and had dinner, we decided to play Strip Truth or Dare for the rest of the evening until we had to be in bed. Aaron's mom said that she'd let us stay up a little later than she normally would on a school night, but that we had to be in bed no later than eleven. The four of us sat down on the pillows and then Aaron said, "Okay, guys, here's the rules. Since it's my bedroom, I'll pick the first person who plays, that person will pick truth or dare, do what's required of them, and then they pick the next person. Questions must be answered truthfully and all dares must be performed. If you really don't want to answer a question or do a dare, then you can choose not do so by removing an article of clothing chosen by the person who gave you the question or dare, but once you get down to your underwear, you have no choice but to answer your question or do the dare, so I suggest you use your clothes wisely. Oh, and just to make things interesting, if you get down to your underwear, you have to take a dare, no matter what. Everyone okay with this?" "Fine by me," I said as Brian and Nick just nodded their agreement. "Okay then. Brian, truth or dare?" Aaron asked. "Truth." "Hmm." Aaron took a moment to think before asking, "Have you ever practiced making out with something other than a person, and if so, what was it?" "I've practiced making out with a picture of a person. Does that count?" "I suppose so," Aaron said. "Okay, well, I've practiced making out a few times with an enlarged picture of Jayden's brother Josh. I cut it out from a magazine that he did a fashion spread in, then scanned it into my computer, enlarged everything from the shoulders up, and then printed it back out." 'Okay,' was my first thought upon hearing that. I always suspected that Brian had a bit of a crush on my brother, but I was never totally sure. That answered that question, although I couldn't help but wonder if Brian still had a crush on Josh or if he'd gotten over it. I decided then that I'd have to ask him that at some point during the game to see if I could find out. Aaron just nodded, at which point, Brian said, "Okay then. Nick, truth or dare?" "Truth," Nick said after a moment of thought. "What is the oldest person you would consider dating and what is the youngest?" "Well, youngest I'd say no less than sixteen," Nick answered. "Oldest, I guess about twenty-five. Okay, Aaron, truth or dare?" "Oh, what the hell," Aaron said. "I'm feeling adventurous. Dare." "Okay, Aaron, I dare you to kiss each person in the room on the lips for the number of seconds equal to the number of letters in their middle name." "Okay then Nick," Aaron said as he stood up, walked over to his desk, and grabbed a stopwatch from one of the desk drawers before tossing it over to Nick. "You can time it while I kiss Brian and Jayden, and then give it to one of them before I kiss you." Nick nodded and said, "Okay, then. Well, Brian's middle name is Scott, so five seconds." Aaron nodded, kneeled in front of Brian, and positioned his face so that it was only an inch away from Brian's before Nick said, "Go!" at which point Aaron began to kiss Brian with a fervor that made me seriously think that Aaron wanted Brian. Both of them looked almost upset when Nick called time to signal that it had been five seconds and it was time for Aaron to move on to me. Moving over to me, Aaron did exactly what he did with Brian, moving in so that our lips were only inches apart. I could hear the soft beep from the stopwatch as Nick reset it and then said, "Okay, Jayden. If I remember correctly, his middle name is Christian, so you have to kiss him for nine seconds. Go." Aaron pulled me into a kiss and I have to admit that Aaron was certainly a pretty good kisser. I've been kissed a few times before and Aaron was certainly one of the better kisses I've ever had, although the kiss would have been infinitely better if it had been with my crush instead of Aaron, but I guess you can't have everything. Nine seconds later the kiss ended when Nick called time and I again heard the soft beeping noise emitted when the stopwatch was reset. Aaron then crawled over to Nick, who handed the stopwatch to Brian. "Okay, that'll be five seconds for Blake," Brian said as Aaron nodded, leaned in, and started to kiss Nick on the lips when Brian said, "Go." Watching Aaron and Nick kiss, I could tell that neither of them were particularly enjoying it. Of course, I knew that they thought of each other as brothers, so I can imagine that it felt a bit odd to be kissing each other. I know I certainly wouldn't want to kiss Josh, even if he was the last man on Earth, simply because he is my brother. Five seconds later, Aaron pulled away from Nick and resumed his spot on his pillow both Nick and Aaron wiped their lips with their sleeves. "Okay, Jayden, truth or dare?" Aaron asked me. "Dare," I said, deciding to be adventurous like Aaron. 'I mean who knows?' I thought, 'Maybe I'll get to do something interesting with my secret crush.' Aaron smiled and took a moment to think before he said, "Okay, I got one. Go into my bathroom there," as he pointed to the door, "take off your underwear, and then put your pants back on. Put your underwear on your head and then come show everybody." "Good one, AZ," Nick said with a grin as he gave him a high five. "Okay," I said simply as I stood up and walked into Aaron's bathroom, turned on the light, and closed the door. I quickly pulled off my khaki pants and then pulled my underwear off before pulling my pants back on. I then put my underwear on my head and took a deep breath before I turned off the bathroom light, opened the door, and struck a pose for everyone to see the pair of black bikini briefs on my head. Aaron, Nick, and Brian burst out laughing, and I can't say I really blamed them as I must have looked really stupid. I then made a mental note to get back at Aaron on the next available opportunity. After my friends calmed themselves down, Brian cleared his throat and said, "I didn't know you wore bikini underwear, JC." "I don't usually," I said as I sat back down on my pillow. "These are Josh's. The washing machine went on the blink last night, so I didn't have anything clean to wear this morning, so I borrowed clothes from Josh, including a pair of brand new bikinis that he hadn't worn yet. Thankfully Mom went to the laundromat today, because they're not really that comfortable. It doesn't help that they're about two sizes too big for me. Anyway, um, Brian, truth or dare?" "Truth." "Hmm, who was your first crush? How long did you like them and did anything ever come of it?" "Well, my first crush," Brian said with a bit of a grin, "was actually your brother JC. I started to notice him around the time I realized that I was gay, so when I was about ten. I got over my crush on him last fall, so about five years. As for whether or not anything ever came of it, well, I did have more than a few fantasies about him. Some of the best wet dreams I've ever had were about him." "Oh gross," I said. I could understand why Brian liked Josh, but he was my brother so the thought of anyone having wet dreams about him was just not something I really wanted to think about. "I have to disagree, JC," Aaron said as Nick nodded. "Josh is hot, hot, hot." "Anyway, moving o..." Brian stopped mid-sentence when the bedroom door opened and Nick's Uncle Erik walked in, followed by Brian's step-brother Antonio, who I noticed had an overnight bag slung over his shoulder. I suppose if Aaron's mom and Nick's uncle hadn't asked what we intended to do for the rest of the night before bed, Erik may have asked why I was wearing black bikini underwear on my head, but as it was, he didn't. "Hello boys," Erik said. "Just thought I'd bring Antonio upstairs." "Hi," Antonio said. "Is it okay if I join you guys? I got home from studying at Carly's and Scott said you were all having a sleepover over here." "Sure, you're welcome to stay, Tony," Aaron said. "Well, I'll leave you boys alone now," Erik said with a smile. "Karen told me to tell you that you have another hour before she wants you all in bed. She'll be coming to check on you then to make sure." "Okay, thanks Uncle Erik," Nick said with a smile as Erik turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Tony put his gym bag on the chair with Brian's and mine and asked, "So what are you guys doing and why is JC wearing bikinis on his head?" "We're playing Strip Truth or Dare," Brian said. "Aaron dared JC to go into the bathroom and come out with his underwear on his head." "Oh, okay," Tony said. "Mind if I join you?" "Sure, as long as you agree to the rules," I said as I filled Tony in on the rules that we'd all agreed to. "That's fine with me," Tony said as he grabbed another pillow and sat down between Brian and me. "Whose turn is it?" "I was just about to call on the next person," Brian said, "so, since you're here now, Tony, truth or dare?" "Dare," Tony said. Brain got a devilish grin as, after a moment of thought, he said, "Tony, I dare you to pucker up and let everyone in the room kiss you for a minute each. With your mouths closed though, so no tongues." "Nice try, Bri," Tony said with a grin, "but I'm straight, in case you forgot." "Well, okay," Brian said, "but not doing the dare will cost you your pants." "Fine," Tony said as he stood up and, after unbuckling his belt, let his pants drop to reveal a pair of black cotton boxers. Sitting back down he carefully worked the pants off, which was a little hard with his shoes still on, and then tossed them into the center of the circle. "Okay, let's see here. Nick, truth or dare?" "Well, I did truth last time," Nick said, "so I guess I'll do a dare this time." "Okay then, Nick," Tony said with a smile, "I dare you to make out with the oldest person here for thirty seconds while the rest of us watch." "Well, we were all born in 1988," Nick said, "so one has to go by birth months, which would make Aaron the oldest. Seeing as how I've already had to kiss him for five seconds tonight and I think of him as my brother, I'm not doing it." "Okay, then, off with one of your shoes then, Nick," Tony said. Nick removed one of his white and blue Nike's and then said, "Okay, Jayden, truth or dare?" "Ah, truth this time," I replied. "When was your first kiss and when was the first with tongues? Who was it with and was it better than the kiss with AZ earlier?" "Hmm," I said as I debated answering the question or not. The first person I ever kissed, with and without tongues, was sitting right there in the room, so I wasn't really sure whether or not I should answer the question. Chancing a glance over in the direction of that person, they just flashed a smile and nodded imperceptibly, so I answered, "My first kiss was about three years ago and my first with tongue last year. As for whether it was better than AZ's kiss, well, the first kiss without a tongue was about the same, but the first tongue kiss was definitely better than the one with AZ earlier. Um, Aaron, truth or dare?" "Not so fast JC," Nick said. "You didn't answer part of your question." "Oh, well, both kisses were with Brian," I said and I'm sure I probably blushed a bit. "Okay, now, Aaron, truth or dare?" "Dare," Aaron said with a smile. "Okay," I said as I walked over to the pile of props that Nick and Aaron had gathered and grabbed a bottle of chocolate syrup, "I dare you to drizzle this chocolate sauce onto Brian's stomach and then lick it all off." "No problem," Aaron said, and from the smile on both his and Brian's faces, I couldn't help but think that they'd both be enjoying this dare. Aaron then took the syrup while Brian lay down on his back and lifted up his vest and t-shirt to reveal his bare stomach. Aaron then drizzled a generous amount of the chocolate onto it and then lay down next to Brian as he began to lick it off. Brian moaned a bit as Aaron's tongue made contact with his chocolate-covered skin. Once Brian's stomach was clean of the syrup, Aaron sat back up with a big grin on his face and I knew that they both enjoyed it. I've always suspected that Aaron kind of liked Brian and vice versa, so I figured I'd take advantage of that. "Tony, truth or dare?" Aaron asked. "Truth." "If you had to kiss any of your teachers on the lips for at least two seconds, which one would it be?" "Hmm, that's a tough one," Tony said. "I don't really want to kiss anyone other than Carly, but I guess I'd have to pick my AP English teacher, Miss Reardon." Miss Reardon was one of the youngest teachers in the school, who probably wasn't much more than five years older than most of her students, so I could understand why Tony picked her. She was young, and I suppose if I liked girls, I'd have found her to be attractive too. "Okay, Brian, truth or dare?" "Dare." "Well since Nick is already missing one of his shoes, I dare you to pull his sock off with your teeth and then lick his foot three times." Brian looked over at Nick for a moment before he said, "No offense, but I think I'll pass." "Well, all right," Tony said, "but it'll cost you that vest." Brian just nodded and removed the grey sweater vest that he was wearing and tossed it on top of Tony's pants in the center of the circle before he said, "Okay, Nick, truth or dare?" "I'll take truth this time." "Hmm, okay. Nick, if you could have a fling with any celebrity, who would it be and what is it about them that you like?" "Any celebrity, huh?" Nick said as he took some time to think. "Well, I am bi, so there's many options, but to pick one, I'd say JC Chasez from *NSYNC. As for why, well, I always have had a thing for guys with brown hair." After Nick said that, he smiled in my direction and I couldn't help but smile inwardly. 'Nick likes guys with brown hair, huh?' I thought to myself. 'Maybe that means I do have a chance with him after all.' The game continued on like this for about another twenty to thirty minutes, and in that time Aaron lost his shirt and both shoes, Nick lost his shirt and pants, Tony lost everything except his underwear, Brian lost his t-shirt, and I lost my shirt and a shoe. Finally it was my turn to call on someone, so since Tony was down to nothing but his underwear, I decided to have some fun with our resident straight boy and said, "Tony, as you know, you are down to your underwear, which means that you no longer have the right to take truth questions..." "Yeah, yeah, I know," Tony said, "and I'm sure you're about to give me a dare that I really don't want to do, so just do it and let's get it over with." "Hmm, let me think," I said as I took a moment to think before I started grinning. "Tony, I dare you to write your initials on everybody's chest in hot sauce and then lick it off." "Well, at least I don't have to kiss anyone," Tony said with a sigh as he stood up, walked over to the pile of props, and grabbed the bottle of hot sauce as the rest of us all lay down and got ready for Tony to write his initials on our chests. Tony went over to Aaron first and carefully wrote out his initials, A M F, on his chest and then proceeded to lick it off. "Damn, that's hot!" he said when he'd finished. "Yes, well, what can I say?" Aaron said. "My mom loves spicy food, so she stocks lots of hot sauce in the kitchen. That's the hottest one she had." "Gee, thanks, AZ," Tony said with a smirk. "You're welcome," Aaron said with a smile as Tony wrote his initials on Nick's chest and then once again licked them off. "Can I please have a drink of water?" he asked as he finished. "Nope, sorry," I said. "Not until you've finished the dare. Two more to go." Tony sighed and then moved on to Brian and then finally me. When he was done, he choked out, "Water! Please!" I knew that he obviously had a five-alarm fire in his mouth because he actually had tears coming out of the corners of his eyes, and if there was one thing I knew about Antonio Foster it was that he never cried. Taking pity on him, I opened the small cooler of drinks that Aaron brought up, grabbed a small bottle of milk, and tossed it to Tony, "Here, drink this. It'll work better than water." Tony opened the bottle and guzzled down half of it in one gulp before sighing in relief and saying, "Just so you know Jayden, I hate you now." "Yes, well, that grin on your face tells me otherwise," I said with a grin of my own as everyone just laughed. It was at that point that Aaron's bedroom door opened and Karen Forrester walked in. She looked around at us all for a few seconds before she said, "Well, I hope you all had fun playing strip truth or dare, but it's eleven o'clock now and tomorrow is a school day. So, I want all of you to start getting ready for bed. Erik is bringing up a couple of air mattresses and some extra pillows and blankets, so you should all be comfortable." Within fifteen minutes we were all in bed, and the last thing I remember before falling asleep was Nick whispering in my ear, "Good night, JC." I fell asleep with a smile that night. -o-0-o- Chapter Nine, Part Five Jake's Perspective Thursday, January 6, 2005 -o-0-o- I wish that I could say that the next day with Sean was better than the previous day, but it wasn't. We were all hoping that Kyle's outburst had managed to get through to the real Sean, but unfortunately, it didn't. Within a few hours of Kyle's outburst, Sean was back to the violent and verbally abusive shell of his former self. Sean had fallen asleep about an hour after Kyle's outburst, at which point Ryan got out of the sweatpants and shirt that he'd forced Sean to wear with him to gain some control over him and stop him from hurting anyone else. Knowing that he'd probably go back to it as soon as he woke up and found himself free from that trap, Matthew and Jordan got some spare bed sheets from the linen closet and tied Sean to his bed. I know some people might think of that as an extreme action, but at that point, we just didn't want anyone else to get hurt. An hour long soak in the whirlpool took care of any lingering pains I had left over from Sean kicking me. Ryan, however, wasn't so lucky because the pain in his side just refused to go away, and eventually Jordan volunteered to drop him off at the hospital on his way to a piano lesson he had to give. When Ryan got back, we found out that Sean had managed to kick him in just the right way with enough force to break one rib and bruise two others. The doctor said that Ryan was very lucky because the broken rib was only a few inches away from his right lung, and that if it had gone any further; it was very possible that Ryan's lung would have been punctured. During the course of the day we did however manage to find out what drugs Sean had been taking as of late. I had gone to take the trash out and it was then that I noticed Sean's backpack lying in the grass behind the garbage cans. I had obviously been so concerned with Sean the previous day that I had simply overlooked it. Taking the backpack into the house, we found Sean's supply of drugs, and it would seem that in the few years since we'd seen him last, he had either branched out quite extensively in what he was taking or he'd begun selling. We found several small bags of cocaine and marijuana in his backpack, along with various other drug paraphernalia. There were also some spare clothes in the backpack, along with some jewelry, which we knew wasn't Sean's, a cell phone, a small black phone book, and two bags of hundred dollar bills. The one odd thing about the small phone book was that it was full of phone numbers and only the first names of their owners. It struck me as being very odd because all of the names were male, and considering that there were probably about two-hundred plus names written in the book, it just seemed very strange to me that a straight, homophobic guy like Sean would have so many male friends and not a single female friend. Of course, it wasn't long before I found out why there were so many male names in Sean's phone book and, to be honest, the reason puzzled me even more. About an hour after I found the backpack, Sean's cell phone rang and Kyle answered, pretending to be Sean for a moment. After getting off the phone, Kyle explained that the person calling was named Daniel and that it was quite obvious he was calling to set up a time in which to meet Sean for sex. So, it would seem that in the time since we'd last seen Sean, he'd taken to having sex with men, presumably for money. Obviously we were all a bit taken back by this revelation, considering that Sean has always seemed to be very homophobic. It also disturbed us greatly because we thought Sean's only problems were drugs, alcohol, and gambling, but then we find out that he's also a male prostitute, and as such could very well have any number of sexually-transmitted diseases. By the time night had fallen, I was really very worried about Sean, because I've always feared having to go to his funeral because he'd overdose or drink himself to death, but now I knew there was also a very real chance that even if we managed to take care of those problems, he might still die from an STD. I was in the master bedroom pacing back and forth as I was trying to think of the best way to handle the situation when Chris walked up behind me and startled me. I think I almost jumped fifteen feet when his arms suddenly wrapped around me. "Jake, I know you're worried about Sean," Chris said as he rested his head on my shoulder, "but giving yourself an ulcer isn't going to help him." "I know," I said as I turned my head a little to look at Chris. "How about I take your mind off your problems for a while?" "I don't know how you plan on doing it," I said, "but you're certainly welcome to try." "You know I'm very resourceful," Chris said with a smile as he gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Why don't you just sit down for a moment and I'll get ready." "Okay," I replied as I sat down on our bed, knowing that I'd probably enjoy whatever Chris had in mind. Chris proceeded to walk over to our bedroom's walk-in closet and, after a moment, he emerged carrying the foldable massage table that we bought a few years ago. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it, because I knew that getting a massage from Chris would be just the thing to get my mind off of Sean for a while Chris smiled at me before setting up the massage table a few feet away from our bedroom fireplace. He then knelt down and flipped on the gas, causing the flames to spark to life before heading into the bathroom. He emerged a few moments later carrying a wire basket full of various massage oils and a stack of the large, fluffy blue bath towels embroidered with our initials that Jordan, Kyle, and Matthew had given us two years ago as a Christmas gift. "Alright you sexy man you," Chris said as he winked at me, "take your clothes off and get on the table." "Yes sir," I said with a grin as I stood up, disrobed, and sauntered over to the table in my birthday suit, knowing that Chris was enjoying every second of the show. I lay down on the table as Chris placed a towel over my legs and midsection to keep them warm while he concentrated on my neck, shoulders, and back. From almost the first moment that I felt Chris' oiled hands touch my neck, I began to relax as the tensions of the last few days began to lessen. I moaned a little as Chris massaged my neck and shoulders, the muscles of which were much tighter then I'd realized. "Oh Chris, that feels so good," I moaned as Chris continued to knead my flesh in his hands. "I'm glad that you're enjoying it," he answered as he began to slowly move his hands around on my back. "How could I not enjoy it?" I asked. "Good question," Chris laughed a bit as he began to apply gentle pressure as he moved his hands in a circular motion across my back. The massage went on for what seemed like hours to me, not that I cared because they were the best and most relaxing hours I'd had in a long time. All of the recent stresses caused by Sean's return had totally disappeared from my body, and for the first time since his return I could honestly say that I wasn't worrying about him. I knew it wouldn't last, but it was still very satisfying to be able to escape from it, even if it was only for one night. By this time I was lying on my back and Chris was smiling down at me as he worked on removing the oil from my body. When he finished, he leaned down and kissed me as I reached up and ran my hand through his hair. If the massage seemed to go on for hours, that kiss seemed like it went on for even longer. The two of us continued to kiss, our tongues dancing in each other's mouths. Finally, however, like all good things, it did come to an end, at which point I smiled up at Chris and said, "Thank you." "You don't have to thank me, Jake," Chris said as he returned my smile. "Well, in that case," I said with a grin, "I guess you'd rather not continue this in bed then." "Did I say that?" Chris asked as I just laughed and gave him a quick peck on the nose. I just grinned as Chris giggled a bit before the two of us made our way over to our bed, at which point I took one look at Chris and said, "You know you are entirely too overdressed." "Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?" Chris asked with a smile as I nodded to him and began to unbuckle his belt and undo the button and zipper of his jeans. Chris lifted himself up a bit from the bed as I pulled his jeans down and off before tossing them into the pile with my clothes. Chris's muscular body was now clad only in a light grey ribbed athletic t-shirt, a pair of light grey boxer-briefs, and a pair of light grey socks. Kneeling between Chris's legs, I smiled at him for a few moments before I leaned down and began to kiss his ever-hardening member through the cotton that was covering it. As I did this, Chris reached over to the nearby nightstand and pressed the play button on the cd player. Like an angel from above Surely heaven sent your love Everything about you is beautiful (beautiful) Oh baby (oh yeah) Like a perfect day in spring To my heart the joy you bring Everything about you is beautiful I took a moment to smile up at Chris because this song was definitely one that we both loved. It described how we both felt about one another so well that we've pretty much adopted it as our song. Chris mouthed the words, "I love you," before I returned my attention to the task at hand. Grabbing the waistband of his underwear in my teeth, I began to slowly pull them down. Chris's tool soon sprang up and hit his six-pack as it was freed from the confining material. The underwear, followed shortly thereafter by Chris's t-shirt, soon found their way to the growing pile of discarded clothes on the floor. Like an angel from above Surely heaven sent your love Cause everything about you is beautiful Like a perfect day in spring To my heart the joy you bring Girl everything about you is beautiful (oh yeah) I lay down on top of Chris and began to kiss him passionately on the lips as I began to lightly grind my hips into his. We both moaned a little as our hardened tools came into contact with one another. As we kissed, I placed my arms behind Chris's back, gently rubbing it, while he placed one hand on my back and began to run the other through my hair. This lasted for several minutes before we finally broke the kiss to come up for air, at which point I began to kiss my way down Chris's body. I kissed my way from the tip of his left shoulder blade over to the right before moving down a bit and planting a big, wet kiss on his right pec, taking a moment to swirl my tongue around on it. I've never felt like this before until you (until you) You took the time to look inside me Girl you showed me love I never knew You know I'll give you all my love Till the world fades into the sun And I'll keep holdin on Cause I know that I've found the only one (oh yeah) Kissing my way across his chest, I placed a second kiss on Chris's left pec, once again taking a moment to swirl my tongue around on it as Chris let out a soft moan to let me know that he was enjoying it. After spending a few minutes going back and forth between Chris's pecs, I began to work my way down ever so slowly, until finally I reached his rock-hard six-pack abs. I soon began kissing and licking each one as Chris continued to encourage me with his moans of pleasure. I then began to kiss and lick my way down Chris's left thigh, deciding to ignore his raging cock for the moment. Like an angel from above Surely heaven sent your love Cause everything about you is beautiful Like a perfect day in spring To my heart the joy you bring Everything about you is beautiful Continuing to kiss and lick my way down Chris's leg, I eventually reached his still sock-covered feet. I sat up a bit and then massaged his left foot for a moment as I kissed each covered toe, which made Chris laugh a bit. I then took hold of his sock in my teeth, being careful not to bite his toes, and pulled it off. I repeated the massage and kissing each covered toe with his right foot before I again pulled the right sock off with my teeth. Leaning down again, I then began to kiss and lick my way up Chris's right leg all the way back to his lips, once again, ignoring his raging hard-on for the moment. You're beautiful to me Girl can't you see (can't you see) Oh yeah you're so beautiful to me Bring it on down The kiss lasted for several minutes as my tongue battled with Chris' in a mini=battle of supremacy. After the kiss ended, I looked deeply into my lover's eyes and I could tell that he wanted things to continue past the foreplay we'd been engaging in until that point. I was, of course, more than happy to oblige, especially after the wonderful massage that Chris gave me. Planting a quick kiss on the tip of his nose, I began to kiss and lick my way back down Chris' body, briefly pausing to gently bite each of his pecs. Chris moaned as I did so and I knew that he was enjoying himself, which made me immensely happy to know that I was the cause of his enjoyment. What did I do to deserve a girl like you? You're so cool (so cool, so cool) I love your style, the way you smile at me Girl I know this must be destiny You know I'll give you all of my love Till the stars fall from the sky And I'll keep holdin on To this lovin' till the day I die (oh yeah) I continued to kiss and lick my way down until finally I reached Chris' manhood, at which point I paused to smile up at him for a moment before I placed a kiss on the head, which caused Chris to moan and shiver a bit. Encouraged by his obvious enjoyment, I began to slowly run my tongue up and down his length, and I couldn't help but feel great with every little sound Chris uttered. Thinking back to the conversation of a few days earlier in the kitchen, I couldn't help but laugh in my head when I remembered what Ryan had said. He had said that Kyle had probably lost his title of the "horny Bradley" to me, but if the amount of noise that Chris was making at this point was any indication, it was Chris and not me that Kyle had lost his title to. True, Chris isn't a Bradley by blood, but I considered him to be my husband and Kyle and Ryan thought of him as their brother-in-law, so he was close enough to being family. Like an angel from above Surely heaven sent your love Cause everything about you is beautiful Like a perfect day in spring (perfect day in spring) To my heart the joy you bring Girl everything about you is beautiful After a few more minutes of teasing him with my tongue, I decided to put him out of his misery, so to speak, as I went down on him and finally took his length into my mouth. At this point, Chris let out another loud moan and then buried his hands in my hair, encouraging me to go down on him. As I moved up and down Chris' length and listened to his moans of pleasure, I couldn't help but think what Sean thought of this, assuming that he could hear it. Since Ryan had heard Chris and I all three times the night of his arrival, I figured it was a pretty safe bet that Sean could hear what was going on. If it hadn't been for the realizations of the day, I'd have been sure that Sean was getting totally grossed out, but now that I knew he'd been having sex with men for money, I wasn't sure. I mean, to do it with as many guys as he seemed to have done it with, I figured he had to be enjoying himself at least a little. I mean, if he was as homophobic as he always seemed to be, it would certainly make a lot more sense for him to be renting himself out to women than to other men. Girl I promise you that I'll never break your heart And forever I will be true (will be true) Everyday of my life (everyday of my life) Till the end of time (end of time) I will still love you (love you, love you) Like an angel from above Surely heaven sent your love Cause everything about you is beautiful (oh yeah) I guess in my thoughts about Sean I must have slowed down my motions as Chris, obviously wanting to reach completion, started to push my head down on himself while also thrusting his hips upward. I certainly wasn't about to complain though, because I was thoroughly enjoying myself as well. Of course, I couldn't really have complained even if I wanted to, as it's a bit hard to vocalize a complaint when you have a rock hard cock in your mouth. After a moment more, however, Chris surprised me by very suddenly stopping his thrusting and pushing my head up and off of his cock. Looking up at him with a questioning look, I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes that I've come to know and love over the years that we've been together. Whatever was going through Chris' mind, I knew that I was going to enjoy it. Like a perfect day in spring To my heart the joy you bring Girl everything about you is beautiful (beautiful) Like an angel from above Heaven sent your love Everything about you is beautiful Everything about you is beautiful I soon found myself lying on my back with Chris' cock once again in my mouth, only this time, Chris was kneeling over me in a sixty-nine position so that he could give me the same attention that I had been giving him. Knowing that Chris was probably a lot closer to coming then I was due to my earlier ministrations on his tool, I went quite a bit slower than I had been going earlier, because I knew that Chris has always enjoyed it when we came together. From the pace Chris was going down on me, I knew he had similar thoughts in his head, so it wasn't that long until I felt myself beginning to cross the threshold of no return and began to speed up on Chris once again. It wasn't long before I was drinking down the waves of Chris' warm juices and I knew that he was doing the same. Like a perfect day in spring To my heart the joy you bring Everything about you is beautiful Everything about you is beautiful After we stopped shooting our loads, Chris turned around and came up to my mouth, initiating a passionate kiss. Our tongues danced in each other's mouths as we shared some of the juices that we'd just finished putting in each other's mouths. The kiss lasted for several minutes until we finally broke apart and smiled at each other. Looking deeply into Chris' eyes, I once again kissed the tip of his nose before saying, "I love you, Chris." "I love you too, Jake," Chris said with a smile. Within a few minutes, I was fast asleep in Chris' arms. -o-0-o- To be continued. The song in this chapter is called `Beautiful'. It was written by Darren Rust and Levi Seacer, Jr. It is performed by The Blenders. I claim no ownership to the lyrics by using them in this chapter.