This
is a fictional story which contains scenes depicting sexual acts. All the
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~ PART
FOUR ~
It
is Friday today. Three weeks exactly since we've landed back here in
Thompsonville. Permanently this time though, and not just for some overnight
stay, like we had been doing when we first discovered this place. When
I got back to the house this afternoon Matt was the only person home, and I
found him sitting at the table in the kitchen, with a cup of coffee in one
hand, a red pen in the other and a newspaper stretched out in front of him. I
walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind, kissing the
tender base of his neck and burying my face into him, much as I did every
chance I got. "Well,
it's nice to see you too mate," he said to me. "Nobody
else home?" I asked him. "Nah,
I haven't seen anyone all day," he replied. "So, how was your
day? That fancy University taught you anything yet?" "Very
funny, wise ass!" I replied, as I ran my fingers lovingly through his
dark hair. "And as a matter of fact, I've had quite a good day." "That's
great mate." "How
was yours?" "Pretty
boring actually." "Hmmmm...,"
I replied. "And
before you say anything, I've taken your advice and have been looking
through the newspapers today to see if there are any jobs going," he
said, tapping the newspaper in front of him. I
glanced down at it and could see that it was open on the Positions Vacant
columns, which had already been adorned with large red circles around those
jobs it looked like he was interested in. "Well,
I'm very pleased about that then. Sooner or later you were going to need
to start doing something down here. We couldn't have you turning into a
couch potato and spending all your days watching Days of Our Lives!" "Yeah
mate, I know. But, just for the record, you should know that I much prefer
Oprah instead." "Oh
that's cute. Very cute!" He
just laughed at me. As
I said, it has been three weeks since we had moved into this house with Tim
and Guy and Ben and Samantha, and while we were all enjoying it here in
Thompsonville, it hasn't all been smooth sailing by any means. Living
like this is certainly one good way of finding things out about each other,
but actually learning to live with each other, now that is what has probably
proved to be the hardest thing to do. It
hasn't all been plain sailing, but we are getting there at least. It
started out with Ben and Matt getting off on the wrong foot, and while
things have since simmered down between them and they seemed to be getting
on alright now, there has always been that something there between
them which still makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Having
said that however, I'm not too concerned about that now, because I know
that we all have to try and make this whole arrangement work, and that they
are both man enough to work out their differences. What
does concern me a little though, is that while Tim and Guy and me have all
settled into our new routines and have started our studies at the
University, neither Matt or Ben have so far done anything at all about
trying to find themselves a job. Nor have they, as far as I can tell, even
so much as thought about what it was they wanted to do with their lives. And
as for Ben? Well as far as I am concerned he can do as much, or as little,
with his life as he wants to. It's Matt that I'm more worried about.
After seeing him throw himself into everything he ever did when we were back
home, including his job in Auto Stop, the last thing I would want to see now
is for him to throw all that away and end up as yet another person who
promised so much, but never amounted to anything. Ultimately though, the
choice is Matt's, so if I am to continue to love him, which I most
certainly wanted to do (and for as long as he will have me), I will have to
love him as he is, faults and all. As
we had lay awake in bed last night, listening to the distant sound of the
surf crashing on our own private beach, Matt and I had discussed this very
subject. I had tried to do this several times before of course, but up to
this point he had always brushed me aside whenever I had mentioned it. I
didn't want to push the point too much though, preferring instead to let
him settle in at his own pace and make his own decisions, and I have to tell
you, that hasn't been easy. I hoped that he wouldn't think of me as the
nagging lover, but I did think that someone needed to make sure that he
didn't fall into the trap of becoming permanently unemployed. Thankfully
though, in the past few days I think I have sensed a change in Matt, and
after two weeks of nothing much to do I could feel that he was starting to
grow restless. Finally it seems, the tide has turned. Maybe he has finally
realized that being a beach bum sounds fine in theory, but it isn't very
practical in the real world, especially when it comes to the mundane little
things like putting food on the table. "So,
have you found anything interesting in there?" I asked him. "Well,
yes and no," he replied. "I'll start making some calls tomorrow
and see what I can come up with." I
leant across and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "What
was that for?" he asked. "Do
I really need a reason?" I answered, feeling extremely happy. "Errr...
no you don't actually," he answered, then leant across and kissed me
back. Getting
to my feet, I dragged him up with me, our faces still locked together, our
hands exploring each other eagerly. "What
if the others come home?" he breathlessly whispered. "We
could ask them to join in?" I replied. "I
don't think so." "Well, I guess it's just us then," I said as I dropped to my knees in front of him and reached for the buckle of his belt.
* * * * *
By
nightfall we still hadn't seen or heard from any of the others, so Matt
and I decided to head down to the local pub for a meal and a drink. Deciding
to walk, and leave the car at home, we figured that it would be about four
or five kilometers into the township itself, and would most probably take
the best part of an hour. After leaving a note on the kitchen table, just to
let the others know where we had gone, we then set off on our evening
stroll, trying to make the most of what was a glorious summer evening. As
it turned out, it really was quite a walk into town, but being right on dusk
it was an enjoyable one, with the sounds of crickets and cicada's filling
the air and the smell of the ocean rolling in over the land, filling our
nostrils. To the west of the town a high mountain range towered over us,
like a sentinel. While above us there were only stars. "It
really is beautiful here, isn't it?" I said to Matt as we strolled
along the narrow, tree lined lane way, which led out onto the main road into
town, hand in hand and safe from being spotted by prying eyes, for now. "Yeah,
it is," he answered. "It's like a totally different world to
back home." "Hmmm..." "Are
you missing it?" "What's
that? Home? Well, maybe a little. But I'm trying to look ahead, not back.
I do miss the people though... you know, our families and friends?" "Yeah.
I know what you mean," he replied, then letting go of my hand and
placing an arm around my shoulders. I
wrapped my arm around his waist and we walked like that until we reached the
main road, where we parted once more and simply walked side by side, both of
us still aware of the consequences of our actions, even in a place like
this. Thankfully, we were yet to strike any trouble here, but you never
could tell. While
neither of us had gone out of our way to advertise that fact that we were
gay, we weren't naïve enough to think that should the local population
find out that little morsel, of what would most likely be juicy gossip, we
would be totally accepted by everyone, so therefore we still had to be
careful. We still had to think about where we were and what it was we were
doing, and had made a deliberate decision not to flaunt our sexuality,
especially not in the first few months of our arriving here. I'm
not sure about other people like us, but I figure that it would probably be
pretty much the same for anyone in the same situation as Matt and me. Moving
into a new area is never easy, and having to be careful about what you said
and did, at least until you became accepted, made it even more difficult. Maybe
one day things will be different. But it won't happen in a hurry I don't
think. We
turned out of our lane way and headed towards the lights of the town, and as
we walked along we would occasionally brush up against each other, or reach
out and touch one another gently on the shoulder or arm or back. Every time
this happened I felt this surge of energy rush through me, like electricity.
It still amazes me that after all the time that Matt and I have known each
other, it took but the slightest touch to generate this reaction in me. There
was very little traffic on the road into town as we walked along the grassed
edges, but of those vehicles we did see, none seemed to take any notice of
us. As
we got closer to the edge of town, we could see the reflection of lights on
the opposite bank of the river dancing merrily upon the water, and ahead of
us we could see the lights of the town growing steadily brighter. We passed
some houses, some empty paddocks, in which there were lazy looking horses
and cattle grazing, then some more houses, and then some shops, before
finally reaching our target, the two-storey red brick Royal Hotel on one of
the corners along the main street. It
was a large and old building, having been built at the turn of the century
if the year that had been inscribed upon the buildings' facade, which was
now well lit by outdoor lighting, was to be believed. Behind the building we
could see lights and people in what looked to be a pleasant beer garden,
while above the concrete footpath which wrapped around both sides of the
building that faced the two streets, there was a verandah, upon which we
could see several groups of people making the most of their Friday evening. And
we could hear music, which sounded much like a live band. "Well
mate, it looks like this is the place to be on a Friday night," Matt
said to me as we crossed the street and headed for the main door. "Certainly
looks like it. Too bad the others aren't here too," I replied. "Maybe
they'll show up later." "I
hope so." We
reached the foot path on the other side of the road and went straight
inside, finding a typical old style pub interior, complete with lots of dark
timbers, high bar stools and framed adds for beer that looked like they were
something straight out of the nineteen-fifties. In
the air there hung the distinctive odour of beer... stale, fresh and spilt,
mixed with the familiar smell of tobacco smoke. There
were quite a few people in the bar when we walked in, and quite a few of
those turned their heads in our direction and looked us up and down as we
headed across the floor. It
was almost like one of those old black and white western movies, you know,
where the stranger walks into the Dry Gulch Saloon and heads toward the bar.
The place falls silent, and everyone looks his way. The piano man stops
playing and the card sharks look up from their Royal Flushes and watch with
suspicious eyes as the stranger makes his way across the room. The only
sound that could be heard was the jingling of his spurs as he walked. To
me it was almost like that. But not quite. In
our case, at least the band played on. Finally
the locals appeared satisfied that we at least didn't have two heads or
something and Matt and I made it to the bar without anything catastrophic
happening. He ordered a couple of beers for us and once the barman had
placed them in front of us and proved to the rest of the world that we were
indeed normal, life appeared to go on. Picking
our glasses up from the bar we head into a less crowded part of the pub,
which proved to be a restaurant. "Will
this do you mate?" Matt asked me, pointing toward an empty table along
one wall. "Yeah,
of course," I answered, then followed him to the table. There
were only about half a dozen other tables occupied, mostly by couples, one
with a family and the last one by two guys, one of which looked to be in his
mid-twenties, while the other was about our age, or maybe just a little
older. They
nodded to us as we sat down, and we nodded back. "Do
you know them?" I asked Matt, softly. "No,
I don't think so. But the older guy does look a little familiar." "Yeah,
that's what I thought too." We
could hear the band playing in the other room, and we could hear the raucous
laughter of the locals enjoying themselves, so we sat where we were for a
while, just chatting and enjoying our drinks. When we were finally ready to
eat, we got up and went and ordered our meals, before returning to our
table. "This
old place is kind of nice," I said to Matt as we sat back down. "Yeah
well, it's better than staying back at the house for Ben's Spaghetti
Bolognaise," he replied. "It's his turn to cook again tonight.
Remember?" "Yeah,
that's right," I laughed, remembering the last time it was Ben's
turn in the kitchen. All I can add to that, is that we were lucky that there
had been some cans of other food in the cupboards. I mean, how the hell
could anyone make such a stuff up cooking Spaghetti Bolognaise? "Hey,
don't look now, but I'll have a bet with you that those two guys over
there are gay," Matt whispered. "What
makes you say that?" I asked him. "They're
playing footsies under the table." "Bull
shit!" "You
have a look then!" Slowly
I turned around and glanced at them as I pretended to look at something just
past them, and sure enough, their feet were rubbing together under the
table. "Well,
good for them," I said to Matt when I turned back to face him. "I
wonder if they're from around here?" "I
think they are," he answered. "I think that older guy is from the "Oh
yeah, I remember," I answered, grinning. "Come to think of it, I
reckon you might be right about him. I can't remember seeing the boyfriend
there. He sure is kind of cute though, isn't he?" "Hey!
What do you think you're playing at?" Matt asked. "Relax
mate. He's still not a patch on you though. You know that don't
you?" He
simply winked at me and said, "Well, just so long as you keep thinking
that way." "There's
nothing for you to worry about Matt, you're safe." "Worry?
Who is worried?" "Ha.
Ha." I
got up and ordered ourselves another round of drinks after that, then a few
minutes later our meals came out to us and so we ate them, while continuing
to listen to the band do their worst impersonation of Jimmy Barnes. Afterwards
we got up from our table and wandered around the pub, finding the room where
the band were playing, plus several rooms that were filled with Poker
Machines, before finally settling on a room where we found an empty Pool
table. Matt
cajoled me into playing a game with him, despite the fact that I had never
played Pool, Snooker or Billiards in my entire life. "Come
on, there's nothing to it," he kept telling me. "That's
easy for you to say." In the end, I beat him easily. Apparently he'd never played it in his life either!
* * * * *
It's
a fact of life that some people just never learn. Did you know that? Well,
apparently Matt is one of those people! I only learned that tonight! Three
more times he challenged me to a game of Pool. Three more times I whipped
his sorry ass. Man,
I really have to say that I've enjoyed this night so far! After
his last loss to me, Matt headed over to the bar and retrieved a couple of
more drinks for us, obviously looking to drown his sorrows, then we both
wandered in to where the band was playing and found a table, where we sat
and listened to them for a while. The
place was dark, and loud, and crowded. And we were enjoying ourselves, even
allowing for the fact that our friends weren't with us. As
the night wore on the crowd started to thin a little, but those that
remained became a little rowdier, which was the only to be expected I
suppose. Even Matt seemed to be coming alive, but I put that down to one too
many visits to the bar. We
spotted the guy from the "Hey
you! Get your eyes off them," Matt cheekily said to me after noticing
me staring at the two of them, who were sitting at a table on the other side
of the room. I
was catching glimpses of them through gaps in the crowd on the dance floor,
and they looked to be enjoying their evening as well. "I
can look can't I?" I asked. "Well,
just so long as that's all you do! You're spoken for, remember?" He
winked at me and had that cheeky grin on his face that I loved so much, but
I had this feeling that deep down there was just the tiniest hint of
jealousy there. I
just laughed at him. "How
about another game of Pool?" he asked me, after downing the last
remnants of his beer and putting his glass back on the table. "Oh,
I don't know..." "Come
on Luke," Matt pleaded, getting to his feet and grabbing my hand as he
did so, trying to get me up also. "You've got to give me a chance to
win at least one game here tonight mate." "Well,
maybe just one more... but only if you buy me another beer." "That's
my boy," he answered as I gave into his efforts and dragged myself to
my feet also. Matt put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me too him
briefly, in a half hearted hug, before quickly releasing me. Nervously
I glanced around us, but it didn't appear as if anyone had noticed. When
Matt let go of me he started to turn around, to head toward the bar, but as
he did so he bumped into a young guy with bright red hair, who looked about
our age. Red-hair staggered sideways for a second, bumping into someone else
as he did so and spilling the entire contents of the glass of beer he was
holding. "Shit!
Sorry about that, mate," Matt said, reaching out to help the guy and
make sure he didn't fall over entirely. He was rocking sideways in front
of us and I thought for a moment that he might fall over all together. "Get...
your... stinking hands... off me," the guy managed to say, with a voice
that was slurred and difficult to understand. "Fine.
Whatever you want," Matt replied. "You
made me spill my beer," he mumbled, looking down into his now empty
glass. I
didn't think that it was Matt's fault entirely, but that was beside the
point really. "I'm
sorry. Here, let me buy you another one," Matt said to him. "Just...
fuck off," the guy said, then from out of nowhere he took a swing at
Matt, who easily dodged it. "Hey,
watch it there Red," we heard someone say. It appeared to be a friend
of his, who was standing just behind him. "Fuckin'
poofters... spilling my beer..." the guy said again, while staggering
toward Matt. We
all knew what it was that was coming and instinctively, a couple of people
stepped back out of the way. The
red-haired drunk took another swing, and missed again, but I knew that if
this guy kept this up Matt wouldn't wait to let any of these haphazard
air-swings land anywhere. Unhappy
that he kept missing Matt, the guy took yet another swing at him. Matt
cocked his fist, ready to put an end to this madness, but just as he was
about to jab the guy he found a hand on his, which caused Matt to spin
around, to look straight into the eyes of the guy from the Caravan Park. "You
don't want to do that mate, it'll only attract attention to you and your
friend," the guy said to him, before then turning toward the aggressors
and telling them to go home and sober up. "Why
don't you mind your own business you fuckin' poofter," one of them
said. "Just coz they're one of your sort! Lookin' after each other!
Prob'ly screwin' each other too!" "Just
piss off home Jacko, or I'll get Tom to call the cops in just for
you," our hero replied, while Jacko and his mate, who had so far kept
his distance, backed off and eventually slunk away, like dogs with their
tails between their legs. "Sorry
about that," the hero said after the clowns had disappeared. "Give
these kids a few drinks and they think they're Superman." "Yeah,
I'll say." "Don't
take any notice of what they said. It's just the grog talking. Anyway,
I'm Scott, by the way. And this is Justin," he said. "Looks like
we happened along just at the right time." We
shook their hands and introduced ourselves and thanked them. "You're
from the He
nodded. "Yeah,
we thought so. We stayed there a couple of times when we visited here last
year. We thought we recognized you." Scott
just nodded. We
watched as the drunk wandered off, still cursing at anyone who got in his
way, and eventually headed outside into the night. "He'll
sober up eventually," Scott said. "One
of the regulars, is he?" I asked. "You
could say that." "Well,
can we buy you guys a drink?" Matt asked. "It's the least we can
do." Scott
looked at Justin, who simply shrugged, then said, "No. How about you
let us buy you one, seeing as you are the new guys in town." Never
being ones to knock back a free drink, we all headed over to the bar and
ordered, then went into one of the other less crowded rooms where we sat
down around one of the tables and chatted for a while. We
told them that we were living with some friends in an old house just out
past the edge of town. "That'd
be the old Norton house?" Scott asked. "Down the end of "Yeah,"
I answered. "It's old, but not too bad. Big enough for the six of us
at least." "Yeah,
I suppose it would be." We
found out that they lived together, and I was so tempted to ask them if they
were gay or not, but figured that was just a little bit too risky. In the
end my question was answered when Justin placed his hand on Scott's knee
and asked him if he was ready to head home. "Whenever
you're ready, mate," he answered. Matt and I glanced at each other,
knowing that the question that had been buzzing around in both our heads all
night had finally been answered. It
was now after midnight, and it seemed that their night was just about over,
and ours may as well be too. We all finished our drinks and got to our feet. "Well,
I suppose we'll see you guys around some time?" Matt asked them. "Yeah,
I reckon we will. Call in and say hello if you're heading past the Van
Park sometime," Scott replied. "Yeah,
we'll do that. Thanks. And you guys make sure you call in out home too, if
you're ever in the neighborhood." They
both nodded and we all shook hands, then they left us. "Well,
how about you? You ready to call it quits for the night?" I asked Matt. "But
I haven't beaten you at Pool yet!" "How
about we save that for next time?" I answered. "I'll let you win
at something else when we get home tonight, if winning means that much to
you." A
wicked grin came over his face and I knew then that he liked the sound of
that response. We
headed for the door, receiving a nod from the barman as we passed him, and
stepped out into what was a cool, though pleasant, summer night and started
across the street. "So,
just whose idea was it to walk tonight anyway?" Matt asked as we took a
short-cut through the car park of the local video store. I
didn't answer him. Just
before we exited the car park I saw some shadows move in front of us and
instinctively reached out for Matt's arm, grabbing hold of him and
stopping him in his tracks. "What's
wrong?" he asked, looking at me anxiously. Still,
I said nothing. I
was too busy staring ahead of us at the four guys who were standing in front
of us, blocking the roadway and now silhouetted by the lights of a car that
had pulled in behind them. Matt
turned and looked at them, and even without looking at him I knew what his
reaction would be. "What's
up guys?" he asked, with just a little too much bravado, I thought. "We
don't like "And
we don't like redneck drunks," Matt replied. Yup.
I'd say that was more than just a little too much bravado this time. To be continued ... EDited by Ed |
As always, your
comments are most welcome.
Please email me at
mp_ponyboy@hotmail.com
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© Mark Peters 2002-2012. All rights
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