Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 15:14:33 EST
From: forty40eleven@cs.com
Subject: 'Labored Love' {Matthew Bolda-3} (HS bb)

This story is about love between two males. It is not focused on purely
sexual relationship, but may involve some sexually explicit scenes in
further chapter. If you do not with to read such material, or you are not
of legal age in your area, please return to the archive now.

OK, this is my first story. My friends liked it, so I decided to post
it. Thanks to John and Adrienne for you support and editing
expertise. Enjoy.

-Matt-

Labored Love Chapter 3

	I was so nervous the rest of the day. I kept asking myself things
like, What does he want, and why from me?, Did Erica say something to him?,
Did one of his friends find out about me?, Does he hate me?, and What if he
wants to hurt me and that is why he made me meet him alone? Well, I didn't
have to wait long to find out. A minute or so after the bell rang he was
headed to his car. If possible, Ryan looked even worse than earlier.

"Hey, I am really hungry," he said to me cheering up a little, "wanna get a
bite to eat?"

"Sure, I'm a little hungry. Two or three hamburgers should do the trick."

	We went to a local diner. I had never been before, but Ryan seemed
to want to go. When we got there it was absolutely empty. We both ordered a
hamburger with fries and a drink, then sat down and waiting for it to be
cooked. Ryan started to look very nervous again.

"So... do you come here often?"

"Not so much as I used to. I had a friend I used to come here with. He
lived here and I lived in the city. You probably know him; he went to your
school."

"Was he well known?"

"Yeah. I would guess so at least. His name was Jared."

"Oh yeah I remember him. He was on the soccer team. Didn't he get hurt
playing in one of the games?"

"Yeah, he tripped over the ball and broke his neck. He died instantly."

"Oh. Oh man, I'm so sorry. Were the two of you close." I could see the
tears welling up and it tore me in two. I wanted to reach over and just
grab him and squeeze the pain out, but I didn't want to offend him. To lose
a friend that way must have been horrible.

"Yeah," he sniffed, "we were real close. Do you consider me a friend,
Eric?"

	He looked me straight in the eye while he said that.  He was on the
verge of tears and not trying to hide it. He was opening himself up to me,
even if it wasn't deliberate. I could barely keep control of myself.

"Yes, you are great friend. Why?"

"I have something I have been wanting to tell you, but I can't decide if I
should or not."

"Well you can tell me anything you want. I don't think you could make me
not like you."

	He seemed to brighten up a little after I said that, but then the
man behind the counter told us the food was ready. We walked over and got
our trays and paid him. The food looked really good, but I was so tense I
couldn't eat. I think Ryan felt the same way; he was just staring at his
plate. I decided it was time to change the subject until he felt he could
tell me what he needed to say.

"Is this place always this empty?"

"Yeah, that's why Jared and I always came here. I was nice to get away from
all the people."

	He started to look sad again. Everything I said made him think
about his friend. I felt like such an ass, no matter how hard I try I keep
making things worse.

"How `bout we get this food to go, and take it to the lake to eat. It is
nice there this time of year. We could throw fries to the ducks and watch
them fight over it."

"Yeah, I like ducks. Let's do that."

	Now he really seemed excited. We got in the car and went to the
lake and found a nice spot under a huge oak tree. This is the tree I sit in
during the summer when people are swimming and the college crew team is
rowing. It is the only big, clean, body of water around here, so it
attracts a lot of attention. This particular oak has a great spot to sit
where no one can see you, but there is a great view of the water. I was
sitting down at the base when Ryan grabbed my arm.

"Let's sit up there," he said motioning up the tree. "There is a great spot
where no one can see us... so we won't be bothered."

	Now follow my logic. One, he is the most popular guy in school,
everybody knows him.. Two he drives a Z3 BMW, people would notice it
arrive. Three, even people that didn't know them would notice when he
arrived. And four, we were the only ones there since it was still early in
the year. I was wondering now what he had to say, and he was getting more
excited by the moment. We climbed up to the exact spot I sit to watch the
guys row and got the food out. I started to eat when Ryan finally got the
nerve to tell me his big news.

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