Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 09:56:49 +0000 From: Jason Parker Subject: Cruisng For Love 2 Authors Note: Well, after being swamped with positive feedback on the first chapter, I decided I really had no choice in the matter. So here you have it. Chapter 2. Disclaimer: The following story contains homosexual acts of eroticism between boys, some of whom are under the legal age. If you're not down with the homosexual aspect of this story, then what the hell are you doing in the gay section? If it's the underage boys part that you disagree with, then know that all sexual acts are consenting and between mature individuals. Butterflies I jerked upright in bed, disoriented with sleep. Some one was knocking on our door and calling out 'Room Service.' "What'sgoingon?" I garbled. Danny stuffed his head under his pillow. "Room service. Go answer the door and make them shut up," came his muffled answer. "You get it, you're closer," I said, burying myself in my bed again. "You're older." He quipped. "And I'm naked." I grumbled as I got out of bed and stumbled across the room. "Room Service." They called again and knocked on our door. Persistent bugger. "Coming," I said too quietly for them to hear and then repeated myself louder when the knocked again. I unlocked the door and eased it open. "Yes?" I asked through bleary eyes. "You're shoes, monsieur," Julian said with a giggle. Oooh fuck. Could this get more embarrassing? Here I was, answering the door in my boxers, my hair everywhere and a gorgeous guy who thinks I'm cute trying to give me my shoes... "Is that your hand in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" He asked, looking down. Oh boy. I spoke too soon. It just got worse. He was staring at my morning wood, held back only by the thin material of cotton boxers with smiley faces on them. I felt my face burning with embarrassment. He peeked to the side and looked down. "Oh right, boxers. No pockets huh? I guess you are just happy to see me." "Fuuuuuuuck" I finally managed to choke out. He looked at me curiously. "This is soooo embarrassing." I muttered. "I was actually gonna say it's kinda hot, but I see your brother is around..." he said, noticing the huddled form in the second bed. He was still holding my shoes out to me, so I forced my hand to take them from him. We stood staring at each other for a few seconds. Him in Bermuda swimming shorts and a ripped black T that showed his muscles in places, and me in my smiley-face boxers. "So I was thinking," he started. "You wanna go--" "YES!" I interrupted and then blushed even deeper, if that was possible. God I'm stupid, I didn't even wait to find out what he wanted to do. "--swimming?" he finished and then laughed. "S-shure." I stammered. "Lemme just pull on my bathing suite." I closed the door in his face and then suddenly realized what I'd done. I pulled the door open again and was about to apologize, but he'd anticipated my move and met my lips with his own. It was quick, but delicious. I just wished I'd remembered to open my lips... Before I could, he broke the kiss. "Hurry up and we can beat the crowds." I must have had the stupidest grin plastered across my face. Why can't I be more like him? Why can't I be cooler?! I closed the door again, this time not so rudely and dashed into the bathroom where I'd left my bathing suite to dry. I pulled it on, took a step and then realized it was on backwards. Can't I do anything right! I muttered a few obscenities and tried to put them on again, this time the right way. Time was a-wasting. A totally hot guy was waiting for me and I was struggling just with getting dressed. I finally had it on the right way and I grabbed a towel from the rack on the way out. I stopped by Danny's bed. "I'm going swimming, I'll be back in a little while if you want to go to breakfast." I whispered. Danny gave a long, dull moan from the depths of his pillow, which I took to mean, "sure, go ahead." I glanced at the small digital clock on his bedside table. Jesus Christ! It was only six-thirty. Julian was still waiting for me in the hall patiently. "Couldn't this have waited a few hours?" I asked, a bit annoyed that I'd been woken up so damn early. He looked at me as if I should know better. "Not if we want to beat the crowds." He said. As we walked down the hall towards the elevator, I found myself really self-conscious of my body. The way I walked, the way I moved my arms... it all seemed so clumsy compared to the way he moved. The elevator came to us instantly; I guess there was no one else awake to be using it. Standing there next to him in the shiny brass interior, the previous night flooded back to me. Now I didn't know how to act around him. Should I hold his hand? He didn't really seem like the handholding type. I was so deep in thought and self-worry, I didn't even remember the walk to the deserted pool. Before I knew it we were kicking our flip-flops off and putting our towels on chairs. We lined up at lanes side by side and then dove in. I hit the water and I was back in my element. I long ago earned the nickname "Fish boy" for my love of water. It just made me come alive. The water woke me up with a jolt and I surged ahead with my feet. I came up for air about half the length of the pool and then carried on with a breaststroke. I'd been swimming for years, ever since I was a toddler actually, but I'd only really started training the previous year. The new school I would be going to in the autumn, unlike my old one, had a pool and a swimming team. I'd had my heart set on making the team since I'd found out I was going there. For a while, Julian matched me stroke for stroke, but on our third length, he slowed and I left him behind in the water. Water has this weird lulling effect on me and I tend to lose track of time when I'm swimming. So I was kinda surprised when I stopped and looked at the clock. I'd been swimming for almost forty-five minutes, nonstop. I hoped Julian hadn't gotten bored and left, but I had a ritual to carry out. I always did it, everyone who had ever swum with me knew about it. My cool-down ritual. I floated on my back to the side of the pool and pulled my legs up out of the water so they hooked on the ledge. Then I held my nose and closed my eyes and straightened my back so my torso sank underwater and became parallel with the wall. I held my breath for as long as I could and then surfaced again. I repeated the process once more and felt my heartbeat slowing. When I surfaced, I took a deep breath and went under again, this time with my arms pointed towards the bottom of the pool. I pushed off with my feet and exhaled through my nose as I sank. My hands touched the bottom so I stopped exhaling and I flipped so I was right side up. I opened my eyes and just sat, drifting gently in the water. With all the air forced from my lungs, I was heavy enough not to float. I usually just relaxed and let my heartbeat slow to normalcy again, but this time, now that the pool was empty, I could feel the gently throb of the ships engine. The water throbbed around me in time with the great turbines. It was an incredibly surreal experience. I looked up to the surface and saw someone's feet dangling in the water. Apparently, Julian hadn't left. I surfaced and then swam underwater to him. When I wiped the water from my eyes and brought his face into focus, he was looking at me a bit in awe. "You should be in the Olympics," he informed me in all seriousness. I blushed as I pulled my body out of the water onto the ledge next to him. "I'm not kidding!" Julian said. "You swim like a friggin pro." "Thanks, I've been training all year." I was having trouble looking at him. There were still a few drops of water glistening on his body and I knew if I looked too long I'd be in serious trouble. A wet bathing suite isn't the most concealing thing. "You on a swimming team?" he asked. I explained the whole situation to him about my old school and the one I'd be starting at in September. "You'll make the team, no sweat." He nudged me and I blushed deeper. Dammnit, now I was aware that I was blushing and it made me blush even more. I hate my body! It's such a traitor. I was just trying to make myself look paler and get rid of my blush when Julian leaned in close next to me and whispered in my ear. "You're really cute when you blush." And there goes all my work. I could feel my cheeks physically burning crimson. We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun streaking the water pink as it rose. "About last night..." he said, not looking at me. Oh fuck. I knew it was too good to be true. He was probably drunk or something. "Sorry if I rushed you into anything. I mean, I didn't even ask if you were single before kissing you." Could this be possible? I did a mental checklist. Hot?: check, gay?: check, thinks I'm cute?: check, is caring and compassionate?: CHECK! Man, he was like a dream come true. "I meant to tell you, my boyfriend is out for your blood for that." I joked. He looked at me startled and I laughed. "I was kidding." I said. "I've never had a boyfriend. Last night was actually my first kiss..." I trailed off as I felt my cheeks betraying me again. "Wait." Julian said, looking at me worriedly. "That was your first kiss?" I nodded. "Shit. I'm sorry." "For what?" I asked. He shrugged. "I just think everyone's first kiss should be really special..." "It was!" Was he for real? "It practically knocked me off my feet." I giggled, remembering how I had expected to be knocked off my feet by his fist, and had encountered only his lips instead. "I'm still sorry if I rushed you or made you do anything you weren't ready for," he said quietly and he reached out and touched my arm. I assured him, "You didn't. Last night was... perfect." I had turned and our faces were now mere inches apart. "Can I ask you something?" he whispered. I nodded, biting my lip to keep myself from just kissing him. "Can I be your boyfriend?" He asked. Can he ever! I brought my face the last few inches and bridged the gap with my lips. His beautifully full lips parted and I felt his tongue touch my lips. Not having much experience with kissing, I wasn't really sure what to do. But I followed his example and parted my lips. I stuck my tongue out hesitantly and it touched tips with his. It felt like an electric shock and it was-- delicious! "I'll take that as a 'yes' then?" He queried when the kiss finally ended. "No," I giggled. "But you can take it as a 'Hell yeah!'" I think we probably would have kissed again, but the doors to the pool opened at that moment and another early bird made his way onto the deck. Some guy who looked to be in his late forties. I jerked my face away from Julian's and he sat up a bit straighter. Gah! Now I really didn't know how to act. I mean sure, he'd kissed me the night before on the elevator in front of people, but those had been two gay guys who were kissing already. I wasn't sure how to act around Julian in straight public. We grabbed our towels and slipped on our flip-flops. He slipped his shirt over his still-wet hair. I kept mine off. We wandered off back through the doors towards the elevator. Together, we made our way back to my room. I was just digging in my pocket for my electronic key when the door to my parents' room opened. My dad came out, about to knock on our door when he saw me. I froze. He looked at us and then recognition washed across his face. "Heya champ." He said. "You're up early." I nodded and wished with all my might that he somehow wouldn't see Julian standing inches from me. I prayed that he would just be invisible to my dad. No such luck. 'Mon pere' was looking right at him. "T-this is Julian." I stammered. "We were just swimming..." I trailed off. Oh god this was Bad. Capital 'B' Bad! Julian thrust his hand forwards. "Hi Mr. Logan, nice to meet you." he said. I waited for my dad to throw a punch, whether at me or Julian I wasn't sure. Surely he must have made the connection by now. "Please, call me Alan." he said and shook Julian's hand heartily. Then he looked at me. "I was just about to wake you and Danny up so we could have breakfast together up on deck." "S-s-sure." I mumbled. "All right, see you in a few minutes once your mother gets dressed." Dad said as he moved back through his door. "Oh, and invite your friend if you want." Then he closed his door. I sighed audibly. "I take it he doesn't know?" Julian whispered from besides me. "Evidently not..." I fished out my keycard and slipped it in the door. It unlocked and we pushed our way in. Danny was still in bed. "I'm gonna shower quickly, you can have one too if you want." I whispered to Julian so as not to wake Danny. "Thanks, you go first." He whispered back. Once inside the bathroom I turned on the shower. After a moment's thought I locked the door. I was half hoping he would join me in the shower, but the other half of me was relieved. I didn't trust myself to be naked with him and not have anything happen. I washed out my hair and then hung my swim suite on the rail to dry. I brushed my teeth and used some gel to mess up my hair before wrapping a towel around my waist and stepping out. He was waiting right where I'd left him. I heard the door close and lock as he slipped inside for his shower and I made my way across the room to root around in my suitcase for clean clothes. Halfway through Julian's shower Danny woke up. He looked at me bleary eyed and then to the bathroom door, then back to me. His mouth framed one word. "Who?" "Julian." I said quietly. "He's just washing off the chlorine from the pool." "Oh." he said. I sat on my bed and he sat on his in silence. The shower turned off and then after a few seconds the door unlocked and Julian stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist. He looked up from his hands, in which he was holding his clothes and saw my brother. Danny didn't even look at him; he just grabbed some clothes from his bag and slipped past Julian into the bathroom. A few seconds later we heard him turn the shower on. Julian started to undo his towel to get dressed. It was weird. A few days ago, and I would have sat there, trying to inconspicuously steal looks at him. But now... it just felt like it would have been disrespectful to watch him like that. So I battled the urge to watch this hunk get naked in front of me, and stood up. I went to the window and opened it. I leant out over the side and looked down to see the sea gliding past. After a few seconds he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my midriff. I leant back against him and kind of nuzzled his neck with my head. "Does your brother know?" he asked quietly, as if not wanting to be heard somehow by Danny who was by now singing in the shower. "Yeah," I said. "He kinda figured it out after he saw us kissing last night." I felt Julian stiffen against my back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to 'out' you in front of him." "It's OK. He's cool with it. Besides, I think he already suspected." "Really?" Julian asked. "How come?" I shrugged. "I dunno. Just a feeling I got from him. But like I said, he's OK with it." "Good." Julian breathed in deep by my neck, as if inhaling me. "Mmmm. You smell good." I laughed. "I just had a shower doofus, of course I smell good!" He joined me in laughing but we were interrupted by a knock at our door. "Danny, Alex, come on, we want to beat the crowds." My dad called through the door. Julian quickly stepped away from me as Danny came out of the bathroom, already fully dressed. "Coming, coming" he grumbled. Mom and dad were waiting for us out in the hall. Dad was wearing just shorts and a polo shirt, but mom looked stunning as usual in a blue and white patterned Sari and a tank top with her auburn hair cascading over her shoulders. Together we all made our way down the flight of stairs to the nearest deck cafˇ for breakfast. As we neared the cafˇ though, I suddenly noticed that Julian and Mom had fallen back a while ago. My mom had a very serious expression on her face, as did Julian and they were deep in conversation. As they caught up with us, mom smiled warmly at me and then took my dad's arm and guided us to a table overlooking the side of the ship. "What was that about?" I asked Julian in a whisper as he caught up with me. "Nothing." He said, a bit to fast I thought. "We just chatted. You're mom's awesome." He started walking faster to reach the table and I matched his pace. "Yeah, she's pretty cool, but u should see her in court." I had to be quiet though because by then we had reached the table. I sat down between Danny and Julian. It was only then that I realized he had managed to divert me from the original topic. Our meal went by pretty uneventfully, although I did catch Julian looking around nervously a few times. I didn't get that... I would have thought that he just didn't want to be seen with me, or maybe he was trying to keep from being spotted by his 'friends' from the night before. But then I remembered he'd been doing the same thing the previous night. It was as if he was on the look out for someone. Someone he didn't want to see. When dad had paid the bill, and mom and dad were enjoying their cups of morning coffee, I took my chance to break away from adult supervision. "Danny, you have any plans to meet up with Claire today?" I asked. "Er yeah." He muttered. "We were gonna get together at around ten to hang out." I looked at my watch. It was just turning nine. Mom and dad had been right to get to breakfast early. The cafˇ had filled up around us until not a seat was left. "Great!" I said. "That gives us time to do that thing I told you about." I gave him a look, hoping he'd take the hint. He did. Unfortunately so did my dad. "Hold up you three," He said as we started to get ready to leave. "What are you up to Mr. Cryptic?" He directed the question at me. My mom saved me though by patting his arm and saying, "Honey, they're teenagers. Whatever it is, we probably don't want to know. That way if it's something serious we can always claim ignorance." Dad chuckled. "OKOK, you're right." Then he looked at us almost pleadingly. "Just try not to get into too much trouble." "Gotcha!" Danny said and then mimicked dad's voice. "Don't get caught." "Daniel..." our father warned. Danny raised his hands. "Joke, I swear!" Although the grin on his face would have made a blind man suspicious. Julian thanked my parents for taking him to breakfast and then we all got up to leave. Julian and Danny were in front of me and kept walking slowly as my dad called me back. "Yeah dad?" I asked, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. I didn't think me and Julian had done anything during the meal to indicate anything, but I was frantic with worry that he'd worked it out. My mother looked a bit worried about what my father was going to say too, and needless to say this did nothing to boost my confidence. He reached out and patted my shoulder. "Glad to see you're making friends." was all he said before going back to his coffee. Me and my mom both looked relieved. I made a dash for it before they could delay me further, but I couldn't help but wonder what it was that had gotten my mom worried... I caught up with Danny and Julian at the doors to the stairs. They stopped and looked at me. "So what is it you wanted to do?" Danny asked, ever the curious kid. "Well I was thinking we should finish our talk from last night." I let the suggestion hang in the air. He slowly nodded. "We just need somewhere private to go so we won't be disturbed." "I know just the place." Julian said. The 'place' turned out to be the very bow of the ship, behind some air vents that shielded us from view. Danny looked a bit uncomfortable that Julian was there and I think he got the hint because he offered to stand guard and distract anyone if they came up this way. Not that anyone was likely to. As soon as Julian was out of earshot Danny burst out, "I know you're gay. I meant what I said last night, I'm ok with it." I nodded. "I know Danny, I believe you. But you asked me something and I think we should talk a bit more about that." He swallowed hard. He knew what I was talking about. "Do you think you're gay?" I asked him. "I dunno..." he started. "I just thought that since you were, maybe I was..." "Danny, it doesn't work like that. I mean, do you have feelings for boys? Have you ever even wanted to do anything with a guy?" I asked him, trying not to freak him out. He looked a bit edgy. "I've thought about it sometimes." He shrugged. "I just wondered what it would be like." I laughed. "That doesn't count. Most guys probably think about it or even try it at some point in their lives." I assured him. Danny was looking a great deal more relieved. "Besides, what about Claire?" I hinted. "What about Claire?" he jumped. "You're totally hot for her." I teased. "I am not!" Danny protested. "Don't lie Danny, you're really not good at it." I yoked him. He crossed his arms. "Ok, maybe just a bit." "Oh come on, I saw you all yesterday." "All right!" he admitted, almost yelling. "I'm 'totally hot for her'. There, happy now?" I nodded. "Yep. Very." He sighed though. Not exactly the reaction I was expecting at this point. "She's got it for you though, not me." Ouch. So I hadn't been the only one to notice. That can't have felt good for Danny. Knowing the girl he was hot for was hot for his older brother. "Maybe," I lied. "But you know I'm not going to give you any competition." "But she doesn't" he said, looking sadder and sadder by the minute. I thought about it for a few seconds. Well, if it would convince her to look to my brother, I guess I could... "I could tell her." I proposed. "About me, I mean." "No," Danny smiled. "I don't want to make you come out before you're ready. But thanks for offering." "Any time bro." I said and ruffled his hair. I stuck my head around the vent and then ducked back around quickly. Someone must have seen us coming up here, because one of the crewmembers had appeared and was talking to Julian. Julian seemed to have the situation under control, talking as if they were old friends. I wondered a bit at that... He seemed to know everyone on this ship. The bartender, this guy, he'd even thanked the waiter from the previous evening by name. I made a mental note to inquire about that later. For now though, it looked like we were stuck. Julian seemed able to distract the guy from checking out the place where we were hiding. But I doubted even he could distract the guy from seeing two teenagers dash across the twenty feet of open deck to the nearest stairwell. I sat down and explained the situation to Danny. He peered cautiously around the vent too and then took a seat next to me. Well, I probably wasn't going to get another chance like this, so I broached the question. "What do you think?" Danny looked at me in question. "Of Julian." I elaborated. Danny shrugged. "He seems cool enough." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess I see why you think he's attractive. I mean, he's like the kind of guy everyone wishes they looked like. How old is he?" I chuckled at Danny's attempt to understand his gay brother. Then I stopped suddenly. It struck me that I actually didn't know how old Julian was. Did he even know how old I was? "I-- I don't actually know..." I said guiltily and a bit ashamed. Maybe Julian had been right. Maybe we had rushed into things a bit. "Jeeze!" Danny looked at me in shock. "At least I know Claire's fifteen." Damn, my brother's good. I bet he even had Claire's cabin number. Something else I had yet to achieve with Julian. That thought surfaced another. How had he known which was my room? I decided then and there I was going to have to have a serious talk with Jewels and really get to know him. "Well he can't be THAT much older." I stuck my head around to gaze at Julian. "I mean look at him." Danny too stuck his head around and looked at Julian. We just caught the end of Julian's conversation with the crewman. The guy was walking backwards towards the stairwell, still talking to Julian, and then he waved and went inside, probably to attend some other duty. I let out a sigh of relief. Julian had successfully distracted him. Jewels waved that it was safe for us to come out and we made a mad break for it across the deck. We headed further along the deck to another stairwell so as not to risk bumping into the same guy. "Hey, I better split, I said I'd meet Claire at ten." Danny said once he'd checked his watch. "OK, We'll catch you later." I called. "Have fun!" He moved down the hall and then turned and called back to us, "We were gonna go swimming later, you guys wanna join us?" I looked to Julian and he shrugged. "We went swimming this morning, so I think we're both swum-out for now. But maybe we'll find you later." I informed him. "Cool. See ya." He waved and then rounded a corner. As soon as he was out of sight I felt Julian's arms wrap around me from behind and hold me. "Your family's cool," he said, his head close to mine. As we were walking through the ship I remembered my need to have a conversation with him. "Jewels?" I paused, wondering if I really should be calling him that yet. "Hm?" he asked. "I was wondering if we could find a 'private place' of our own..." I started. "Sure." He said, and guided my by my arm to the on ship cinema. I was about to make some comment about meaning talking, not making out in the dark, but we continued past the theatre. He eased open one of the access stairwells and we descended in the yellow light. We reached another door and slipped through quickly into the darkness at the back of one of the movie theatres. I frowned in the dark. This wasn't what I had meant... He moved past me and took my hand, leading me to the back row of seats. He didn't notice my frown. Then I realized, well of course he didn't, he probably can't even see my face in the dark. A few of the other people in the theatre had turned and given us looks, but mostly we went unnoticed. I was about to say something to Julian, but the previews started and the light they cast showed me he had already hunkered down in his seat for a good long movie session. Well, at least he wasn't trying to make out with me. I guess that's a good thing. Right? The previews were as to be expected. Not the best, but there were a few for things I'd like to see eventually. 'Collateral' and 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse' being just two. The movie turned out to be 'Secret Window,' the one based on that book by Stephan King with Johnny Depp in it. Totally freaked me out. That scene where his reflection is walking backwards towards him in the mirror bugged me out seriously. And the end was completely unexpected. A few times through the film I looked over at Julian. He looked gorgeous, just watching the movie silently. He seemed engrossed in it. I wanted to say something along the lines of us needing to talk, but I knew how much I hated it when other people talked during the film. I don't know if I had much success but I always tried hard not to be a hypocrite. I have to admit, despite being a bit ticked off with Julian, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. When the lights came on at the end, Julian finally looked over at me and noticed I was wearing a bit of a pout. He looked at me worriedly. "Is everything OK?" he asked. "Can we talk?" I asked. He looked at me and then around the theatre. "Alone." I persisted. He kept looking at me worriedly, although now a bit sadly too. I hope he didn't think I wanted to break up with him. I just wanted to get to know him a bit. Our exodus from the cinema went unnoticed, or at least the fact that we hadn't paid to get in in the first place went unnoticed. We soon passed a sandwich bar and he stopped to get us two sandwiches before I could stop him. He didn't even give me the chance to pay for my own. Nice of him I guess, but it was kind of getting on my nerves. I wanted to have a serious talk with him and he kept managing to distract me. I couldn't even tell though if he was doing it on purpose. So I'd have felt bad if I'd said something and it turned out he was just trying to be nice. It turned out we were on one of the decks with an outdoor pool so we went out onto the pool deck and found a secluded corner. He unwrapped his sandwich and bit into it. I nibbled at mine and watched him. God, he looked so masculine and hot with his chiseled jaw working on the sandwich. He noticed I was watching him and between his next bite, he asked, "So what did you want to talk about?" Crap, I'd been so absorbed with watching him, I'd almost forgotten. "I... I just realized I don't really know that much about you." He swallowed and laughed. "Is that all? Man, I thought you were having second thoughts or something." I decided that it probably wouldn't do the situation any good to tell him I HAD been having second thoughts. Besides, any second thoughts I had had would be banished once I got to know him more, I was sure. "How old are you?" I asked. "Nineteen." He said nonchalantly between bites. "Why? How old are you?" Nineteen?! Christ! I didn't think he'd be THAT old. Seventeen or eighteen maybe, but not nineteen. That meant he'd be going off to college soon. "I'm only sixteen." I said. He froze in taking another bite of his sandwich and swallowed hard. "I'll be seventeen in a few weeks." I added hurriedly. "Jeeze..." he said. OK... that wasn't exactly what I was hoping to hear... "I just thought you were like a short eighteen year-old or something. You're mature enough to be one." Not as bad as I thought then. In fact, he'd even managed to slip in a compliment whether he'd meant to or not. "So you're OK that I'm so much younger?" I asked, worried as to his answer. He shrugged. "Like I said, you're really mature." He paused and fixed me with his amber gaze. "The question is, are you OK with me being so much older?" I giggled. "Do Zebras have stripes?" He laughed too a bit. "Any other 'burning questions' for me?" he asked. I thought about it for a few seconds. "Yes, actually." He looked a bit surprised and a bit apprehensive, but gave a brief nod to give me the 'go ahead.' "What's your name? You're full name I mean." I really wanted to know this one. His full lips bent into a bit of a grimace. "Julian Octavian Rayneheart." He said as if it was displeasing. "My dad was big on Roman emperors. He wanted me to be 'Julius' but my mom had to draw the line somewhere." I thought it was kind of hot actually. 'Rayneheart.' I repeated the name over in my mind. For some reason it seemed a bit familiar. I just couldn't think from where. "I'm Alex Hopkins Logan." I said. "Hopkins was my mothers name and she insisted that we get it as at least our middle names." I explained. "Logan comes from my dad's side. I think it goes back to our first ancestor on this side of the Atlantic. Some Irish fellow called James Logan." Julian laughed. "Did he have beastly facial hair and metal spikes in his knuckles?" I laughed too at his X-men reference. "Might've done." He extended his hand. "Nice to meet you Mr. Logan." "Oh the pleasure's all mine Mr. Rayneheart." I said and took his hand. He squeezed it gently but meaningfully. "Not ALL yours." I grinned. I was going to ask him how he'd known my last name earlier, because I remembered him calling my dad 'Mr. Logan.' Kinda weird that he'd already known... But just then someone yelled my name from the other side of the pool deck. It was Claire, with my brother. She was waving frantically to get my attention and then beamed when I turned and caught sight of them. "I'm just going to go say hi and check on Danny." I told Julian. "I'll be right back." "I won't go anywhere." he said, and then looked at my half-eaten sandwich. "You gonna finish that?" I laughed. "Knock yourself out dude." Man this guy could eat. We'd only had breakfast a few hours ago! Claire was... overjoyed to see me. It was kinda uncomfortable making actually. Danny rolled his eyes. I sat down in the seat Danny had vacated, saying he was going to get them drinks. Claire and I shot the shit for a little while. After a while though, I noticed she was staring across the pool deck at Julian. He had finished my sandwich and was sitting, watching us. Or more accurately, watching me. Claire realized that I was looking with her at Julian. "I wish he'd stop staring at you like that." she said quietly as if Julian would somehow hear us over the noise of the crowded pool. "It's like he's hitting on you or something. Makes me uncomfortable." She said a bit peeved. "He was doing it all last night too." 'Really?' I wanted to ask. He'd been watching me all night? Damn, I wish I'd noticed. "Erm..." I said. "Actually, Claire..." I saw Danny heading back towards us with two bottles of iced coke in his hand. I gave him a warning look with my eyes and he slowed to a stop and waited just within hearing range, but not where Claire could see him. She looked at me. "Doesn't it bother you that he looks at you like that?" "Not really" I said, shifting my feet a bit. "He's blatantly trying to hit on you! And that doesn't bother you in the slightest?" She was incredulous. "Well you see Claire..." How to say this? How to let her down gently? It sure as hell would have been easier to do if I hadn't known she was hot for me. "He's my boyfriend." I blurted. Stupid stupid STUPID! That was NOT 'letting her down gently'! She looked at me in surprise. "You're gay?" I nodded slowly. "Oh." She looked really sad now. "Sorry, I just though that you were... ya' know..." I did know. I saw Danny waiting anxiously and had a bit of a brain wave. "It's all right." I leaned in close to her ear so Danny wouldn't hear. "Now he's probably going to kill me for telling you this, but Danny is totally besotted with you." She looked at me startled. "Are you joking? I thought he was the gay one..." I laughed. "No, that's me. Trust me, he's got it bad for you." I stood up. "Anyway, me and Jewels were gonna split. Catch you guys later?" She nodded. "Ah.. OK, sure." Danny looked at me, curious as to what I had said to Claire. I just winked and he started to blush. "That girl's hot for you." Julian said as I sat down in the chair next to him. "Don't worry." I assured him. "I just told her we were a couple. Besides, I'm not likely to ever be interested in a girl. Especially not with a hunk like you around." I giggled. He grinned and then took me by surprise by leaning across the gap in the chairs and kissing me full on the lips. "Whoa..." I whispered when his lips came off mine. "First public kiss!" I said on an intake of breath. "Sorry." He said, looking a bit ashamed. "I just couldn't wait any longer." I lifted his chin, and this time it was me who kissed him. It was such a thrill. I felt like I had the entire butterfly population of the Amazon Rainforest hammering around in my stomach. I caught a few people looking at us out of the corner of my eye, but no one said anything. OK, OK. I know I said there would be more sex stuff in this chapter, and I'm sorry there wasn't. I'm also sorry for the long delay. I was going to write more on this chapter, and have it go all the way through the day, but I've run into a bit of a mental block and I figured I'd just throw this one out there now, rather than making you all wait. School is about to start up again, so that means I'll have even less time for writing. But the series WILL continue! It just might take a little while. All comments and questions are welcome at ArchangelMatthew72@Hotmail.com. Have fun with what's left of your summer!