Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:18:08 -0500
From: terry@thestorycloset.org
Subject: Climbing the Hill - Chapter 2 - Descent

The following story is fiction and may contain sexual content and
situations between males of various ages.  If it is illegal for you to view
such content then please leave this page immediately.  All characters and
names are figments of my imagination and are not meant to resemble or
portray any person in real life - past or present.

All work is copyright protected by the author, me.  No reproduction is
permitted without explicit permission from me.

Enjoy!

========

Two - Descent

"Mom!", where the hell is she?! "MOM!!"

"Todd, I'm really sorry about your jeans", Scottie said quietly.

"Scottie, don't sweat it. It was my fault, not yours!", I tried to
reassure.

"MOMMMM!", I yell again.

"Hold your horses, Todd! What's the big hurry, any- OH! Move back and let
me take a look", now she sees the big hurry...

Mom's a nurse at the county hospital, by the way. That's why she works so
much. Right now she's fussing over Scottie's right leg.

We never made it all the way to the river. We were goofing around walking
up the road - you know, regular guy stuff - and I bumped into Scottie. He
slipped sideways off the road and his leg fell at an angle into an old,
broken, tile drainage culvert. Ripped his pants leg, scraped his leg, and
his ankle is swelling pretty bad.

Some way for me to cheer him up, eh? Damnit, how could I be so stupid as to
do something like that! Gawwwd I'm soo stupid sometimes!

He's hurting pretty bad - I can see it on his face. Aww, damnit. This is
driving me nuts! How could I do this to him?! And now he's telling mom it
was his fault!

"Hold it, Scottie. Mom, it was my fault. We were goofing around and I
bumped him and he fell into the ditch". I turn to look at Scottie, "I'm
really sorry, Scott. I shoulda been more careful. I didn't mean for this to
happen", I said - feeling about two inches tall.

In a quiet voice Scottie says "It's ok, Todd. It's no worse than I've done
to myself a bunch of times. It's not like you knew this was gonna
happen. I'll live - I promise", smiling at the end.

"Ok, you two lovebirds. He's -"

"MOMMM!!" I yelled as both Scottie and I went through about 6 shades of
red.

"He's going to be pretty sore for a while", mom continued. "It's nothing
too serious. He sprained his ankle pretty well, and the scrapes are just
superficial. He's going to need to stay off the leg for a while,
though. You two DO need to be more careful, though. I'm not your private
nurse" she ended with a smile.

Ummm.. Maybe she knows more about me than I thought? Now I'm really
confused. And if she knows, what the hell does Scottie think of me?!

"Todd, there's some ibuprofen upstairs in the cupboard. Grab it for me?",
mom asked. She turned back to Scottie and said "Scott, you're going to have
to keep you leg elevated for a while till the swelling goes down some. The
ibuprofen should help with that as well as with the pain. Dinner is almost
ready, so take two of the tablets as we're eating - that way it won't upset
your stomach".

"K, Mrs. C. Don't want to be any trouble, though", Scottie mumbled.

I dashed upstairs to the bathroom cupboard to get some ibuprofen for
Scottie.

"Slow down, Todd; or you're going to end up with an ankle like Scott's",
mom yelled behind me.

Yeah, right. I needed to get away from there for a couple of minutes. What
the hell was that "lovebird" stuff?! She can't possibly know I'm gay! I
really need to think about this, but with Scottie here I really can't.

*****

Dinner went pretty well. Actually, mom and Scottie acted as though she
never said what she did. Maybe I'm just too touchy about this stuff. Yeah,
I know I'm gay - but I've never really had to deal with it much. I pretty
much had things under control until these last few weeks.

It's just, well, I started thinking about seeing friends with their
girlfriends. They each have someone there for them; to spend time with and
do things with. And I don't.

Not that I want a girlfriend, mind you. I get cold chills thinking about
being with a girl in a romantic situation.

And I do have Scottie. Scottie's been a great friend. But he still isn't
someone I can be physically close to when I feel the need. Don't get me
wrong, though - it's not that I wouldn't want to be close to Scottie in
"that way", but I just don't think he'd feel the same way I do.

What the fuck?! When did I start thinking of Scottie that way?! He'll freak
big time if he even gets a hint that I'd been thinking this stuff up!

Hmmm. Now that I think about it, I guess this has been coming for a
while. Sorta explains why I freak when I think something's bothering Scott,
or like when he got hurt.

I've really got to watch, now. I can't let people see me feeling and acting
this way. They might start thinking I'm gay or something. Well, I am - but
they don't need to know that!

"Earth to Todd. Earth to Todd. Come in Todd", Scottie says - breaking my
train of thought.

WHAM!

"Hey dickhead! You didn't have -"

"Todd! Watch it!" mom yelled from the kitchen.

"Sorry mom!" I yelled back.

Turning to Scottie, I said a bit more quietly "You didn't have to cream me
in the head with the pillow. I heard you"

"Dude, you were totally zoned out. I don't think you were even on the same
planet as the rest of us are", Scott said with a grin on his face. "You
spend more time zoned out than anyone else I know. If I didn't know better
I'd swear you're stoned half the time".

"I just think a lot!"

"You think too much", Scottie responded.

"And what do you know about being stoned,
Mr. I_tried_LDS_once_but_didn't_like_it?" I shot back with a grin.

Scottie leans forward in the recliner and gives me the finger.

"Heh, you wish", I said while thinking 'Heh, I wish!'.

STOP IT TODD!! I gotta stop thinking this way, damnit! This is going to get
me in some real trouble if this keeps up!

Scottie just grinned and leaned back in the recliner. Mom had given him an
ice pack to put on his ankle earlier, but he said he didn't like using it
because it made his foot and ankle go numb. 'DUH! That's what it's supposed
to do!', I thought but never actually said. Scottie had his 'blond' moments
like our friend Mikey, from school, but not quite on the same
scale. Scottie's earlier moodiness was still on my mind and I didn't want
to do anything that might trigger that again. Though I was still planning
on having our little discussion about it later.

As I lean back into the sofa and turn to watch TV I realize that I have
been thinking about Scottie a lot. Seems like several of my hilltop
pondering sessions have focused on him, and I just chose to ignore the fact
until now.

I've known Scott for just over a year, but I guess I really don't know him
much at all. He doesn't talk about his family much, and we seldom go over
to his place. Actually, the only time that I was there I never went beyond
the front door.

Some friend I am, eh? How could I let this go on for so long and never
realize it. Well, that changes today. No, I'm not going to go all nosey and
try to find things out about Scottie; but no more of the superficial
friendship that we had before. Good, bad, or indifferent; I'm going to be
as good a friend, or better, than Scottie has been for me.

The other question that is bugging the hell out of me is why I'm feeling
this way now? Why the sudden attraction and feelings for Scottie? Or was it
always there and I just chose to ignore it; like I've chose to ignore most
things that have to do with my sexuality? And if that's the case, why can't
I ignore it now?

GRRRRRRR! I'm fucked in the head!

I refocus my eyes as I feel a tap on my forehead and someone saying "What
planet are we on now, T?". It's Scott, of course. Sitting beside me
grinning from ear to ear.

Wow, I must have really zoned out there. I can't believe I didn't realize
he'd moved over.

"I'd really like to know where you are when you're off on one of your
journeys, Todd".

"No, I don't think you would, Scottie", I mumble quietly.

A look of concern crosses Scottie's face as he asks "Why do you think that,
T? We're friends, right? You're supposed to talk to friends - tell them
what's on your mind".

Oh shit. I could see the trap closing now. A trap that I - in my own
stupidity - had set in place earlier that day.

"Guys, I'm headed to the grocery store! I'm also stopping by Angela's. She
hurt her leg the other day and I want to stop in and check on her. Anything
you need while I'm out?" mom yells as she opened the door into the garage.

Whew! A diversion!

"Nah, we're fine mom! Well, maybe stuff to make tacos for later in the
week?" I say as I walk towards the garage. "You need us to go? To carry
groceries or whatever?"

"No, I should be fine. Not getting all that much. And Scottie doesn't need
to be walking around much till that swelling goes down" she responds.

Well, that didn't work!

Mom gave me a quick hug and headed out the door. I walked quietly back in
to the living room, dreading the discussion I was sure to come.

Scottie glances up as I walk over and sit in the recliner. Not sure I can
sit beside him at just this minute. I really need to find something to
deflect this discussion before it starts. I can't tell him what's going on;
but I don't want to lie to him either.

"T, you're looking a little pale. Everything ok?", he says - looking me
directly in the eye.

Oh, those eyes. I could stare into them all day. Right now they're a deep
green color with a hint of brown around the outside. Other times they're
much more dark. They're the perfect eyes for Scottie's face.

"Ummm T, what's up?" Scottie says while giving me a bit of a strange
look. Damnit, he caught me staring! What the HELL is wrong with me?! Don't
panic, Todd. Stay calm!

"Uhhh, Scott - We need to talk" I answered weakly, looking away.

"Todd, I know we do. I'm going to keep that promise to talk to you; but I
have a strange favor to ask first" Scottie responded. "Will you help me
walk back up to your spot on the hill?"

"Umm, sure, if you really want me to".

Scottie slowly stood up and I followed. His request sort of caught me off
guard. Sure, he's been up there with me a lot; but generally just long
enough to get me moving off so we could go do something else.

We walked in complete silence for the next half hour. We both seemed to be
wrapped up in our own thoughts. I took Scottie by the elbow as we ascended
the steep, final slope to 'my' hilltop; not wanting him to slip and injure
his leg any more than it already was. We sat down on the grass in the cool,
late afternoon air and for the next few minutes watched as the sun fell
farther in the west, preparing to make it's descent below the distant
treeline.

For some strange reason it felt like a 'final' descent.

Just as the crickets start making themselves known, Scottie looks
up. "Todd, I should have talked to you about this a few days ago but I was
too upset. I have some things I need to say to you, and it's very hard for
me to say some of it."

I watched as sorrow and fear crossed Scottie's face. This is really
confusing me. What could he possibly have to tell me that would be
bothering him so much?

"T, I really want to thank you for being my friend. You always made time
for me. You always included me in whatever you were doing. You're the only
person that's really made me feel like I'm actually worth something,in a
very long time."

"Scottie, I -", I started.

"Toddy, please let me finish", he said with a pleading look. "If I stop
now, I may not be able to say what I want, no - need to say."

Toddy? First time he's ever called me that. I sorta like hearing him call
me that.

Scottie carefully stands up, and as I rise to join him he continues "My
parents are getting a divorce. They've been arguing for months, and mom
finally told dad that she's leaving him. I guess she's going to have
custody of me."

No. Scottie didn't deserve this. Nobody deserved this.

"Todd... We're moving to Michigan, to my grandparents, tomorrow morning."

NO. This can't be happening! Not now!

All I could do was stare at the ground, fighting back tears.

And just as the sun starts to slide behind the trees, very softly Scottie
continues "The reason I asked you to come up here with me was so I could
always remember you here - in your place. This is where I always found you;
and maybe, someday, I will again."

Just as I'm totally about to lose it I feel Scottie's fingers very gently
lift my chin. I look up to see one lone tear trailing from the most
beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Pain and sorrow and fear all fighting to
express themselves in those deep, green pools. And before I have the chance
to react he leans in and very gently and tenderly kisses me, turns, and
walks down the hill.

==============

This is my first attempt at writing a story.  Please feel free to contact
me at terry@thestorycloset.org with any comments or feedback.  A few newer
chapters and updates of mine, and other author's stories, can be found at
http://terry.thestorycloset.org .

Enjoy!

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