Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 12:19:54 -0800 (PST) From: LaZer Subject: Nathaniel and Rocky It was a warm summer day outside. Mom had just yelled up the stairs that breakfast was ready and that soccer practice was in two hours. She said I had just enough time to get my chores done before I had to leave the house. I rolled out of bed and stretched. I usually sleep in my boxers and my T-shirt so I had to straighten them up before walking into the bathroom. I was lucky that we had a two-story house surrounded by the woods. I had a lot of privacy when I wanted to take a hike and get away from everything. Mom was downstairs in the kitchen and I knew dad had already gone out into the woods. He was an avid hunter and loved the outdoors. I loved the outdoors too but I don't think I could ever love it as much as he did. He would always tell me stories about how him and a couple of buddies would go out into the woods and stay for a couple of days, sometimes even a week or two. Mom never did like this as she never knew when they were going to come back. She always feared for the worst. She thought they would get out somewhere and be attacked by some wild animal. The only wild animals I have ever seen around the area are a couple of cubs, fawns, raccoons, and bobcats. We had a pond behind the house so I guess that is what they preferred as their drinking source. I would swim in the pond every now and then, and if you stay out in the middle of the pond you could see a baby fawn come down for a drink of water. Every now and then one would get brave and let you walk up and pet it. Very rarely have I ever got to do this, but mom would go out to feed them and she would come back in and tell me. I went into the bathroom and took care of my early morning business. I checked myself out in the mirror to make sure I looked decent. I keep my hair really short because that way when I wake up in the morning I don't have to worry about looking like Beetlejuice. Just so you have an idea of what I look like, I have short dirty blonde hair. I have two ways I like to keep it and it varies every day. Some days I like to spike it up. My last girlfriend liked it that way. I didn't like wearing it that way because I didn't ever feel anything for her. See I have known I was gay since I was eleven years old and I am now sixteen. But anyway enough about her. Back to me. The other way I like to wear it is the way you see some of the skater type wear their hair. Comb it down and make it kind of spiked in the front. I think it looks best that way. I have green eyes, and I'm six foot tall. I have a brother and two sisters, and I am the tallest of all four of us. I guess I take it after dad. He is six foot five inches tall. Mom is kind of short standing at about five foot eight inches. How they ever worked out the height difference I'll never know but they are two of the happiest people in the world. I walked back to the bedroom passing my brother Ryder as I went. That was my brother's name, Ryder. He's younger than me so he looks up to me as a role model like most little brothers think of their big brother. He is only eleven so I have to look out for him. Not that I mind, unlike a lot of guys at the high school I go to, I like hanging out with my brother. He is pretty awesome and he loves about the same stuff as I do. We love playing sports together and all that fun stuff. My sisters are Leigh and Selina. Leigh is the same age as me, she's sixteen. Selina is the oldest child. She is twenty years old and already in college. I like hanging out with her because I don't get to see her that often. But she loves to hang out with her friends more than me so I that takes away time from seeing her too. She takes me anywhere I want to go when I ask though so that is a good thing. On the way to her friend's house she would always drop me off at the mall or the movies and let me hang out for a while. I would take my baby brother every now and then because it gets pretty lonely not having anyone to hang out with. Leigh is the typical sixteen-year-old girl, she never wants Ryder or me around. She is always afraid that we will embarrass her. And before I go on anymore about my family I guess you would like to know my name. I'm Nathaniel, but most of my friends call me Nathan or Nate. I walked on back into the room and over to my closet where I kept all of the clothes I liked wearing. I was lucky that Ryder had already gone downstairs to eat breakfast. I had to share the room with him because mom and dad didn't think it was right that him and Leigh share a room together so they stuck him with me. We each give each other the privacy when we need it so it all works out. Leigh has to share the room with Selina when she comes in ever so often. I picked out a red shirt that I loved and a pair of my jeans to go with it. I went to the chest and pulled out my soccer uniform. That was the only thing I hated about soccer practice is we had to wear the stupid uniforms. I don't see why they wouldn't let us practice in just the regular shorts and T-shirt. But no we had to use the shin guards, elbow guards and all that stuff. That's the reason I loved playing baseball, we got to practice in anything we wanted. I could just wear my jeans to their practice. But I don't play baseball much anymore because its not as fun as it use to be. The reason being was that I got on the team because of my best friend Rocky. I was thirteen at the time and he was fourteen. He's a year older than me so he would be seventeen now. A senior in high school but he had to move away when his dad was transferred two years ago. I've changed a lot since then and I have always wondered if he still thought about me. I guess he moved off and found better things to do than call me or write me cause I never got a phone call or letter from him. He was the first guy I ever fell in love with. Yeah I look at other boys all the time but it is nothing but lust with them. With Rocky I knew I actually loved him because sex wasn't all we talked about. We did everything together. Every sport team I played on he was right there with me. Everywhere I went he was. Ryder and me went camping with dad and it bout broke Rocky's heart and mine because his parents wouldn't let him go. I thought it would have been so much fun. Actually that was the night I was going to come out to him and see if he had the same feelings for me that I had for him. But I guess that's something I will never know now. Although that night I did come out to dad and he made sure that mom knew. For a long time it was rough but they eventually understood that they couldn't change me. They tried sending me to a psychiatrist and all that junk. Finally the guy that was my psychiatrist said that its not something you can help. You are who you are and you love who you love. After that I guess mom and dad discussed it that night because the next morning they took me private and told me that they loved me and always would. They also said that they were behind me in whatever choice I made. That was the best thing you could ever have parent say to you. Ryder still to this very day doesn't know what I meant when I came out. I don't want to tell him either because I don't want to ruin the image he has of me. Selina knows and she said that there are a lot of friends at the college she attends that are out so her having a brother like that was no big deal. She even introduced me to one of her best friends that I could talk to anytime I wanted to about anything that was bothering me. So even if she doesn't hang out with me often she is still pretty amazing. I got dressed and spiked my hair like I wanted it and then turned to go downstairs to eat breakfast when I passed Selina and one of her friends coming up the stairs I said good morning and continued down the stairs. "It's about time you got your butt out of bed" she said before her and her friend giggled at the comment. She can be so lame at times it's pitiful. I went on into the kitchen and walked up behind mother. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down to eat breakfast. "It's about time you got down here, I thought it was going to be cold when you go there. Rex sure would have loved it if you didn't make it" she said. Rex is our dog. He has been with us for a long time. We got him when he was just a puppy. Someone had set him out at the place mom worked at and she didn't have the heart to leave him sitting out in the cold so she brought him home. He is part shepherd, part lab. We all love him to death and he does come in handy from time to time when a raccoon tries to get in the house. Besides that dad takes him hunting every now and then. I don't know why he didn't take him with him this morning. I ate my breakfast and then started getting my shoes on. I ran up the stairs to get the gym bag I kept my outfit in for practice. When I came back downstairs mom was already waiting for me to go out the door. "Selina, I'm taking Nathaniel to soccer practice, stay in the house while I'm gone. I'll be back in a little while." "Okay mom" she shouted down the stairs not even coming out of her room. Mom and me went out and got in the car. She started the car as I flipped to the radio station that I loved to listen to. "You and that pop music" mom said. "Hey, I love this music" I smiled as Jewel came on the station. "That's about the only one of those girls I like" mom said humming along with the tune. I just stared out the window as we got to the field where practice was. "So where did dad go?" "I don't honestly know. He didn't take his rifle or anything so I know he didn't go hunting. And his truck is gone so its hard to tell."' "Think he will be home when I get finished with practice?" "I don't know Nathaniel, we'll have to see. Don't you and the guys usually go out and do something after practice?" "Yeah I think they are going to go see a movie today but I don't know if I want to go with them." "Are you feeling alright honey, you always loved going to the movies." "Do you know when the last time I went to see a movie was mom?" "Yeah, about two years ago" she said shaking her head knowing that the last time I had went to the movies was the night right before Rocky had moved off. "Well call me and let me know what you decide to do" she said pulling into the parking lot in front of the place where coach has us meet. "Thanks for bringing me down here mom" I said. "It's no problem honey, you have a good time" she said leaning over and kissing my cheek like mothers love to do. "I will mom" I said as I blushed. "Don't be ashamed because I love you son, you will always be my baby and I don't care what you say." "What if one of the guys saw that though, they'll joke about it all day long." "Yeah I bet their mothers kiss them good-bye too so I wouldn't worry about it." "Okay mom, well I'll call you when I get finished. I love you." "Love you too Nathaniel. I might be a little late picking you up if you come home. I have to swing by and pick Ryder up from his friends house." "I was wondering where he was, I didn't see him except in the hallway this morning and he did look like he was going somewhere." "Yeah, he went to Johnny's house." "Okay, well I gotta go, practice is about to start." "Okay, see you later." I shut the door and jogged into the building to hurry and dress for practice. We went out onto the field and did our daily practice. Doing this five days a week you get use to everything that needs to be done so the coach does nothing but pretty much supervises us and every now and then he would join in and practice along with us for motivation. He really is a great coach He said that today was going to be different though because we were playing the number one ranked team this weekend and they have a new secret weapon. It was then that I remembered we were playing the team from the next town. So that means that there was a new kid that just moved in and tried out for the team and made it. "Everyone thinks he is a great soccer player so we have to really practice and hope we might actually walk away with a championship this year." We all practiced harder than we have that previous week and gave it our best. We really wanted to win a championship and bring home trophy. We haven't made it in the past three years. Finally practice was over and everyone talked about what movie they wanted to go see. I piped up and said "I don't know if we should go to the movies, you know the other team we're playing is probably going to go see a movie too." "Well that would give us a better chance to see what their secret weapon is because you know that he had to have been at practice too. And what kind of team would they be if they didn't let him join in with them." "You have a good point" I said realizing they were right. We could check out the competition. We all got in the shuttle vans and began our way to the movies. When we get there we sure enough saw the vans from the rival team in the parking lot. We all decided to see the movie Orange County. When we walked in we sat in the back and we saw a few players from the other team. They were sitting up front of the theater. A teammate of mine was sitting there naming off names of the players that were sitting there. He then got to a person he couldn't name but he was wearing one of their jerseys so we knew he was on the team. He had light brown hair spiked just like mine. He looked about our age and he looked like he had the athletic build. "I bet that's their secret weapon" one of the other guys with our group said. "I bet it is too" some of the other guys said agreeing once they saw the guy sitting there. Two of their guys got up to go get something from the concession stands and we saw them ask the guy no one recognized if he wanted to go with them and he said yeah. They got up to the section where we were sitting and the leader stopped the other two. "Well if it isn't the losing team this weekend." "You wish, you're going to be the ones going down" someone from our group chimed in. "Yeah, in your dreams girls." The whole time I couldn't say anything because my eyes were lost in the new guys eyes. We just stared at each other and didn't know why but it felt like we knew each other. Finally the leader ushered them on so they followed his lead but the new guy kept his eyes locked on mine as if searching for something in there. I turned back around and was completely lost in thought. A little while later my buddy was elbowing me. "Hey Nate, you awake? Earth to Nate." "Sorry man, I was lost in thought." "Yeah, it must have been a good thought because you didn't even finish watching the movie. you didn't do anything but look down at the floor." "Sorry" I said. "It's your break, it was a good movie." "Where are we going to now?" "Well a couple of the guys are going home and some of us are going to the diner down the road to eat. Do you want to go with us?" "Sure" I said still thinking about what it was that was odd about the new guy. We got back into the vans and went down the road just a little ways to the diner. Everyone that was going in got off the bus. "Nathaniel, can your dad or someone take you guys home?" the van driver asked. "Sure man, go on" I said without even thinking about it. We got in and ordered our meal. Our team had paired off and was talking about different things. I was sitting there and didn't even notice my buddy Ben sitting across from me studying my expressions. "Nate man, what's bothering you?" "I don't know. It's something about that new guy we saw today." "You aren't intimidated are you? Cause I mean that is the last thing we need is for our best player to be intimidated by someone else." "I'm not intimidated by him. Did you see the way he was looking at me?" "Yeah, the same way you were looking at him." "It feels like I know him from somewhere but I can't place him or anything." "What if it is you know who" "Who?" I asked not thinking about it. "Never mind, to weird even for me" Ben said "Well man I hope you don't lose focus cause you know we have a big game coming up and then we have to work with the rival team to put on a play for the charity benefit we do every year." "Oh crap, I forgot about that." "You are going to do good, don't worry bout it Nate." "I don't know, I mean I don't even have a song ready." "First keep your thoughts on the game, cause we have an easy play to do this year." "Yeah I guess you're right I said" picking up the phone to call dad. He agreed to come and get us and was at the diner in about thirty minutes. Everyone piled into his Jeep Cherokee, He gladly took everyone home. When it was down to just him and me he asked how my day went. "Pretty good dad, where were you at this morning though?" "I was taking cafe of some business. You know I am on the athletic board so I found a new kid I'm scouting." "Speaking of new kids I want to ask you something." I said. I told him the whole story of how the new guy and me kept staring at me and I kept staring at him. I told him that it felt like I should have known him but I didn't. "Did he have a haircut like yours?" "Yeah." "Did he have the number 36 on the jacket he was wearing?" "Yeah, so what?" "You mean you didn't recognize him?" "No dad why would I?" "Because I remember you saying that you had a crush on him." "No I don't, I don't even know him dad." "I can't believe you don't recognize him. He hasn't changed much, just his hair isn't blonde anymore and he has grown up a lot." "Are you saying that the new kid is, you know who?" I said not wanting to get my hopes up. "Yeah son, that's why you couldn't quit staring at him like you said. You recognized him but you couldn't bring yourself to realize who he was." "Are you thinking it is Rocky?" "Who else would have the name R. Rasnake on it." "I didn't even see the back of his jacket. We never lost eye contact until he was out of site." We pulled in the driveway to the house and I told dad that I wanted to take a little walk. "Okay but remember dinner is in about an hour." "I'll try to be back dad." I started walking down the driveway. It was about a mile to the next house but I didn't care. The house was empty but if there was a new guy playing for the new team maybe that is where he lived. It was on the borderline of the two schools' respective counties. So anyone that wanted had his or her choice of which school to go to. I don't know what possessed me to want to go to the one I did but everything turned out all right. I mean I have seen people that had transferred to the same school as me because they said it was a bad school. There was one kid who had to transfer because a bunch of jocks found out that he was gay. He came to our school and was gladly welcomed. Before I knew it I was at the house and sure enough there was lights on in the house. I walked up the driveway and rung the doorbell. A nice looking girl opened the door and smiled when she saw me. "Nathan?" "Yeah, Denise, is that really you?" "Yes, it is I." "How are you doing?" "I'm doing good. My my how you've changed in the past two years" she grinned. "Come in, come in don't just stand there in cold. I walked into the house s Denise yelled for her parents. They walked into the kitchen and were just as shocked to see me as I had been to see them. Immediately we hugged like it had been a lifetime, which it sure did feel like it to me. "How have you been the father asked me." "I've been good." "You still play sports?" "Oh yeah, I love it. I have a big soccer game coming up this weekend as a matter of fact." "Oh no, you don't think" Ms. Rasnake said to her husband. "I'm afraid so" he said confirming her thoughts. "What is it" I asked lost. "Well your old buddy also made the soccer team and he is playing for the school down the block. Isn't that the one that is playing you all this weekend." "Yes" I said shaking my head. Just then we heard a movement on the stairs. I looked up from he couch and saw him. When he saw me all movement stopped. We couldn't do anything but stare again. "Well aren't you going to say hi" Denise said to her brother. "H.....H....el.....lo" he spat out slowly. "H.....H....el.....lo" I spat out in the same shock he was in. He came over and stood in front of me. I immediately rose up off the couch and embraced him in a hug. "It's been a long time" he said. "Yes it has I said hugging him tighter than I thought I ever could." "Would you care to stay for dinner" Mr. Rasnake asked me. "Sure I said" forgetting that it was getting dinnertime at my house too. We sat around at the table talking and catching up on old times. Mr. Rasnake told me how they transferred him to around thirty places all in a year. He finally got tired of it and told the company how he really felt about them. I guess they didn't take to that so well because he is living here now. "So how long are you all going to be staying in this area" I asked. "Hopefully a long time" Denise said. "I'm tired of moving." "Yeah same here" Rocky said We finished up dinner and talked some more around the fireplace. It wasn't until about 11 o'clock that I noticed it was getting late. "I really need to get going. Mom and dad are going to freak." "Yeah, you'll have to get them to come over tomorrow so we can catch up on old times." "That would be nice" I said. "I'll walk with you home" Rocky said. "Would you mind if I stay at his place tonight?" "No son, go ahead you don't have practice tomorrow so I don't see why not." "Thanks mom, thanks dad" he said hugging them both. He grabbed a jacket and then turned to me, "do you have a jacket?" "No, I didn't bring one, it's in dads car." Rocky told me he would be right back and ran up the stairs. He came back downstairs with a jacket from a former school he had attended. He handed it to me and told me I could borrow it. I said my good-byes to his family and let them know how great it was to get to meet them again. They let me know that I was welcome back anytime as me and Rocky started out the door. We walked down the driveway and to the sidewalk. It was really cold and I was glad I had borrowed his jacket now. We talked about how much he loved finding out that we were moving back to the area and how glad he was to get to see me again. "I've never had another friend like you Nathan. There's just something about you. When I saw you in the movies today I didn't mean to be rude and stare like that but I couldn't help myself. I was dying inside because I wanted to say something to you but I didn't know if you would remember me or not." "I did remember you but I was speechless at seeing you again." "I know, I was the same way seeing you. It was like someone had just knocked the air out of me." "Yeah, I know exactly how you felt." We continued talking and then we talked about the game coming up this weekend. He also mentioned that he was also going to be helping in the play that we were to be doing I told him a lot about what has changed with me in the past two years. The only thing I didn't tell him about was the fact that I was gay and I was out. I didn't really want to tell him right now and I also didn't want him to find out on his own. We got in the house and I introduced my parents to Rocky. They all said how great it was to see him again and all that stuff. We stayed up till like three in the morning talking. We then said we were going to bed and I showed Rocky to my room. "You can use my bed tonight man and I will sleep on the couch." "You don't have to do that man, let me sleep on the couch." "No, after all you are the guest and I wanted you to come over so it would only be right." Rocky looked at the bed and then turned to me, "well it looks like you have a good size bed, I don't mind sharing it if you don't." "I don't mind a bit, it will feel more like old times." Rocky and me use to share the same bed when we were kids. We have known each other most of our lives. That is why I said it broke our hearts when we had to move away from each other. I just wish he liked me the same way I liked him. We both took care of business in the bathroom. When I walked back to the bed I saw he was stripping down to his boxers. I striped down to my boxers and T-shirt. I laid down in bed and felt him slide into bed behind me. "You don't know how great it is to see you again" Rocky whispered before we fell asleep. The next morning when I woke up I noticed that Rocky had stretched out on the bed and I was using him as a pillow. I don't know how I ended up in this position but I kind of liked it. I started to shift and noticed his arm was draped over me resting on my back. He must have felt me shift because the next thing I knew his hand was caressing my back. "Good morning" he said then let out a big yawn. "Good morning to you too. Sorry I used you as a pillow." I said apologizing. "No problem, I'm the one that put your head on my chest. You only have one pillow and I guess I hogged it. I saw that you didn't have a pillow so I shifted to let you lay your head on me." "That was nice of you." "Nathaniel, I have something I need to tell you but I don't know how to say it." "You can tell me anything Rocky, you're still my best friend, and nothing has ever changed that." "Well what I was going to tell you might change that." "I doubt it I said." "Maybe I should wait until we are both fully awake before I tell you." "Okay, just remember that you can tell me anything you want to tell me." "Thank you Nathaniel." "No problem, that's what friends are for." `Boy's the bus is pulling up the driveway" mom yelled up the stairs. "Oh man, the alarm didn't go off." "Shit" Rocky said. "What am I going to do, today's my first day. "Well I can get dad to run you to school if you want." "Do you think he would mind?" "Not one bit." We got dressed and I grabbed bite to eat. I told dad the situation ad he agreed to take Rocky to school. I ran out to the bus so he wouldn't end up having to take us both although I would have rather it been that way. The whole bus trip I was wondering what it was that Rocky needed to say to me. Dad was almost to the school when he looked over to see Rocky in deep thought. "Thinking about Nathaniel?" "Yeah, I am Mr. Gibson. I almost told him what I wished I could have told him before we left but I chickened out. I don't know how he would react to it." "Well Rocky, that is something you have to do yourself but I promise you you're not going to lose him. I mean you all act like you've never even been split apart and you just moved back after being away for two long years." "Well do you have a problem with me liking your son the way I do?" "I think you two would be perfect so no I don't have a problem with it. Just tell him how you feel." "Thanks for the advice Mr. Gibson." "You're welcome Rocky." Rocky got out of the car and went into the school. The day went about like any other school day for me. It was time for gym class so I was getting ready. "I heard our main star here was seen talking to the enemy" one of the school bullies said shoving me into a locker. "Yeah, I heard he has a crush on the main player of the other team" the boys brother jumped in. My buddy Eric jumped in and shoved the boys off of me. "Leave him alone guys, he's on our team, not theirs." "Yeah but what if he decides to screw us over in the final game?" "I wouldn't do that" I said. "I'm on this team, not the other opposing one." "Well I still don't like it" the two boys said walking off. When I got home I asked mom if Rocky had been over yet. She said no, and that he had practice too just like I had. She then told me she had some good news. She told me that the Rasnake's had invited us all over for dinner and that they had accepted. We all got ready and dressed up. We piled into the car and drove down the road to their house. We were all greeted with hugs as we walked in. I noticed that Rocky wasn't around so I asked Denise where he was. "Well him and another boy kind of got into a fight at school today over something." "What was it over" I asked wanting to know. "I'll let Rocky feel you in." "I have to go get him in a few minutes, you're welcome to come along if you want" Ms. Rasnake said. "Can I mom?" I asked. "I don't see why not." We got our jackets on and went to the schoolhouse. We got there right as Rocky was walking out of detention. "What did you get in a fight for?" I whispered to him. "Denise told you didn't she?" "Yeah, now tell me." "I'll tell you later, I promise." We all got back in the car and went back to the house. When we got there Denise and Mr. Rasnake had dinner ready. "That didn't take as long to fix as I thought it would have" Ms Rasnake said. "Well of course not when I have a lot of help tonight" Mr. Rasnake said pointing to Selina and mom. "Thank you all for helping" she said. "It's no problem" they said. Everyone sat at the table talking while me and Rocky sit in the living room talking. Selina and Denise were off talking as the parents joked around and had a good time. Ryder and Leigh were playing with the video games in Rocky's room. "Want to go outside a moment" Rocky asked me. "Sure, but why?" "Well I want to talk to you about something that's been on my mind for a long time now." "Okay" I said walking out the door with him behind me. We walked off to the swing that sat out near the gazebo. We sat there and swung for a few minutes in silence. "Nathan, I don't really know how to say this but while I had two years away from you I have had a lot of time to think about it." I sat there in silence listening to him. "I've had a lot of friends but never another friend like you. There is just something bout you and I don't know how to say it." "Just say it." "Nathan, I'm in love." "With who?" I asked not believing my ears. "Who do you think I'm in love with? I'm in love with you. I have been for a long time. I hope it won't change our friendship but I thought you ought to know. I think I'm in love with you" "Rocky?" I said softly. "Yes" he said I could hear the nervousness in his voice. He didn't know how I was going to react and was scared. "I think I love you too." "Really?" he said excitedly. "Yes, I have known I was gay since I was eleven years old. And I always thought that maybe one day I would be able to tell you how I felt about you. Looks like you beat me to the punch." We both laughed at the comment. He turned to face me in the swing and slowly places his hand on my knee. "So now what." "I don't know" I said not knowing whether to make the next step or not. "I want to kiss you" Rocky said. "What are you waiting for then" I said. He started leaning in close to me. When he was just inches away someone yelled from the house. "Are you out there boys?" "Yes mom we are" Rocky yelled with a little frustration in his voice. "It's getting cold and we're going to play some card games. Come on and join us" she yelled. "Okay" he said getting up. "I'm sorry" he apologized. "Don't be sorry" I said caressing his hand. He held his hand out to me. In the dark no one would be able to see us so I gladly laid my hand in his as we walked to the house. We let go of each other's hand as we got to the door. We went in the house and joined the parents for a few games. About three in the morning we all decided to turn in for the night. Especially since all us kids had school in the morning. Ryder and Leigh had already turned in and were using Rocky's bed. He walked into the bathroom and was brushing his teeth when I walked in. I started brushing mine right beside him. We connected eyes in the mirror the whole time. We rinsed and dried our mouths off. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me near him. He started to lean in again ready to kiss me. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. "I need in the bathroom" Selina said. "Damn it" Rocky mumbled. I couldn't do anything but laugh. I thought it was pretty funny. But what wasn't funny is every time he started to kiss me someone would interrupt. We opened the door and walked out letting Selina in. "Hope I didn't interrupt anything" she said grinning mischievously. We walked on into the den where Rocky had an air mattress laying on the floor. "You were prepared for me to stay all night weren't you?" I asked. "Yeah, when I heard dad say you were coming over I knew that they would be here so long that you would have no choice but to sleep over." "Sounds like I've got a smart boyfriend." Rocky blushed at the comment and said "it wasn't that hard to figure out you were staying, besides if your parents were going to go home I was going to ask them if you could stay with me. I mean I know you're only sixteen but I can watch you, I am considered an adult almost." "Yeah you are." We stripped down to our boxers and T-shirts. He decided to keep his on tonight so that we wouldn't have to do much when we got up in the morning for school. Besides I don't think he wanted the parents to walk in and see him in nothing but his boxers. We lay there for a few minutes. All of a sudden he rolled on top of me. "What are you doing?" "I'm finally going to do what I have tried to do all evening." He leaned down and finally his lips connected with mine. I slightly opened my mouth and that was all the invitation he needed. His tongue slipped between my lips and massaged mine. We kissed for what seemed like an eternity. We were about to pull apart when the lights came on. Rocky quickly jumped off top of me as we tried to look like we were asleep. "Don't mind me" Denise said throwing her sleeping bag down on the floor. "You mean you're sleeping in here tonight?" Rocky asked. "Yes, and so is Selina." she said. "Bummer" I said. "Oh, you can still kiss him goodnight, just don't be making out" she said teasing us. "We need to get to sleep anyway" Rocky said. "We do have school tomorrow." "Yeah" I said sadly. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine again ignoring the fact that Denise was even in the room. As we kissed Selina walked in. "Way to go little brother" she said. I turned as red as the blanket that Rocky and me were using. "Don't be embarrassed. Consider yourself lucky that you're kissing someone as hot as he is" she said. "Quit trying to flirt" I said, "he's all mine." "Yeah, I'm all his" Rocky said smiling at me. "That was a nice thing to say. Why do all the great guys have to be gay" Denise said. "Good question" Selina chimed in. They turned out the lights and got into bed. Rocky kissed me quickly and said "I love you Nathaniel Gibson." "And I love you Rocky Rasnake." He wrapped his arms around me and held me to him as we both drifted off to sleep.