Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 06:02:42 +0100 From: Ardveche Subject: New To This State (Part 4) THE OBLIGATORY PREAMBLE ======================= Already this is longer than anything else I've written, and no where near finished, I'm running out of things to say in these little opening sessions! Clearly I want to thank everyone who has sent in their support and suggestions (if you see your ideas included here, please don't sue me!), and I want to apologise for the dozens of typos in the last part. All that aside, I'm pretty pleased with how the story is developing and think I might be able, after all, to continue it without lurching too much. Time will tell, and you guys will be the judge of my success (or otherwise). For all of you out there who either loved or hated Lois, let me just say that we haven't seen all that much of her as yet, and there is more than meets the eye - which will be revealed as appropriate. Please bear in mind that we're only on about day 3 or 4 as far as the story's time goes. And as for Curtis, and whether he has a secret and what it might be, well, you'll just have to wait and see. (Those of you who followed Copier Guy (beginnings) know that doesn't mean I'm not saying, but that I don't know yet! I'm pretty much making this up as I go along.) Anyway, enough from me, we resume at school the following day... DISCLAIMER ========== This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. The author asserts all legal and moral rights (copyright (c) 2000 - ardveche@hotmail.com) to this work and you may not copy it or transmit it in any way except in its entirety and with this disclaimer. This story features descriptions of sex between consenting (all over the legal age, at least in my jurisdiction they are) males: - if such material is prohibited in your jurisdiction, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you're under the legal age to read such material, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you don't like, or are offended by such material, please DO NOT READ ON. Now, if everyone who is still here is meant to be here, let's get on with it. All comments are welcome and gratefully received (email them to ardveche@hotmail.com). NEW TO THIS STATE ================= Chapter 4 - Broken Promises When I woke up, it was from the most incredible dream. I was almost painfully hard, and my mind swam with glorious images. Of Tyler. And therein lay my disquiet for the rest of the morning. Why was I still fantasizing about Tyler now that I had met Curtis? Now that he'd made it clear that not only was he available, but he was interested. I went through to the bathroom, got in the shower and proceeded to address the problem. But as soon as I came I felt horrible, like I'd betrayed Curtis somehow by jacking off thinking about someone else. What was happening to me? I couldn't even work up much enthusiasm for my wardrobe and threw on whatever came to hand - totally not like me. Anyway, I wasn't fully myself at school and the morning passed in a bit of a blur. I tried out for the swim team, with Brian (the guy from lunch yesterday?) and the Coach looking on, but my times were totally shot. The Coach told me that I just wasn't fast enough, and that my form basically sucked; better luck next year. Brian just shook his head at me and walked off. I knew this would take no time at all to reach the 'jock-squad' as Kate had called Tyler and his cronies, and I thought I pretty much new how they'd be about it. My cool stock value had just dropped through the floor. Maybe I should just get it over with and sign up for the chess club? Ha! Where is thinking like that going to get me? Before lunch I had chemistry again and as I followed the lines (alone for the first time since I started at McKinley) to Dr. Bates' classroom my mind was in turmoil. I desperately wanted to see Curtis again, but I was scared to death that he'd see my guilt on my face and, well I don't know what I thought he might do. David smiled at me from hi seat as I shuffled into the room and I gave him a half grin in return on my way to my seat. Curtis wasn't there. The class went on forever and I paid no attention to what it was about, a fact Dr. Bates took great pleasure in exposing to the rest of the class. "And the product of the reaction will be, Mr. Quinn?" I was jerked back to the here and now, I had heard the sounds, but they had no meaning, I had no idea at all what the question was, let alone the answer. "Um." "Well?" "Uh, what was the question?" "As I thought. Mr. Quinn, I've been looking over your transcripts, young man, you are going to have to start paying attention in my class, or I shall have no choice but to flunk you. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, Sir." "Good, now returning to the question. Can anyone tell Mr. Quinn what results to expect from this experiment?" And so it went on. But I couldn't seem to summon up the enthusiasm for the class. This was so like the last few weeks at my old school, where all I had been able to think about was Aaron and whether he felt anything for me. I tried to shake myself out of it for my mother's sake - after all, I had promised. But my mind kept returning to the thought of Tyler and Curtis and what I was going to do. Finally the bell rang and I was still in a daze when David shook my arm. "Hey, Earth to Drew. Where were you, man? Is this about the swim team?" "Huh?" "It doesn't matter that you didn't cut it, dude, you can try out again, or try for something else instead. Don't sweat it." "I guess." I had no intention of telling him that the swim team was absolutely the lass thing on my mind. That I didn't give a fuck about the swim team. That every single person on the swim team could go and fuck themselves. I had enough sense to realize that that would not score me any points. "C'mon, lets go join the guys for lunch." "I can't. I have to go meet..." I trailed off and tried to steer my sentence in another direction, "...someone." I remembered what Curtis had said about the Tylers and Davids of the world not approving of him. Why couldn't people just get on with one another, regardless of how cool they were? Sigh! "Who? Kate?" His face split in a big grin and he punched my shoulder lightly. "You go, Drew!" He seemed really pleased at the prospect. "Maybe." I replied, knowing that if I said yes and she showed up at lunch without me there would be questions later, I figured being enigmatic would be the best course. "Well, you better get going, dude, don't want to keep her waiting. She might find somebody else!" "Yeah." I smiled weakly and headed for the door. "See you later." "Later!" Once I was in the hallway I hesitated, not sure what to do. No, that's a lie, I knew exactly what to do, but for some reason I wasn't sure if I should do it. Then something Kate had said came back to me - while I had chemistry, she had biology, so instead of heading for the door, I turned right and fought the throng as I headed for the bio classrooms. I scanned the crowd of students as I elbowed my way through and craned in the window set into each door, hoping that I could spot her. There she was, talking to her teacher! "Oh, hey, Drew! See you later Mrs. Ferguson." She smiled at the teacher and trotted into the emptying hall to greet me. "What's wrong with you? You look like shit." "It's a long story." "I bet. Spill." "I can't. But I need you to cover for me." I couldn't tell her the problem without exposing Curtis, and that wasn't fair it wasn't my secret to give away. "Sure. What do you need?" She looked concerned. "I need you to have spent lunch with me." "Why?" "I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but I can't." "Give me a clue." "I have to meet someone, and I sort of told David it was you." "Who is it?" She wasn't going to give up, so I made a snap decision. I could give her the name, but absolutely no more. "Curtis." There was a long pause. "I see. Fine, I'll do some lab work and tell them that I was with you, where were we? What did we do?" She sighed heavily as she said this. "I don't mind." "Okay, we were here in bio, talking." "Thanks." "Boy do you ever owe me." "I know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you to do this." "Go." "Thanks!" I called as I darted for the door. I jogged up the hill to where the sports fields lay, flanked by the bleachers. There was already a crowd of people at the near corner, the same ones as were there every day smoking. There was no sign of Curtis anywhere and I we getting some pretty hostile looks from the black clad misfits hanging out here. I glanced at my watch and saw that the lunch bell had rung about fifteen minutes previously. Maybe I'd missed him? Maybe he'd been here waiting and left already. My heart sank. "Drew." I spun on my heel, he was standing about fifty feet away, his hair hanging over his face again, hands thrust into the pockets of a brown leather coat. His voice sounded really flat and cold. "Curtis. God, I'm sorry I'm late, I had to get Kate to cover for me." I said as I walked towards him. He didn't say anything, didn't look at me, waiting until I was within about ten feet of him before he turned and started off down the hill away from the school and towards the parking lot. "Wait up." I called, he stopped and waited for me to catch up to him. "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "Bullshit, something's wrong. Tell me." "I said nothing. Drop it." His voice was totally expressionless which was somehow more alarming than if he had shouted at me. I let it drop and walked in silence with him to his car, he opened the driver's side and eased himself in, I assumed I was supposed to as well, so I climbed in the passenger side and swiveled in the seat to face him. He leant, as he had before, forward on the wheel and stared straight ahead. "Curtis..." I started. "Who's Kate and why is she covering for you?" "Kate Tomski? From the student council, she's in my history class. We talked in Study Hall, and, well, she knows I'm gay." "So she's telling Tyler that you're with her?" He still wasn't looking at me, and I sensed a real tension in him, he was holding his body very stiffly indeed. "Um, yeah." "Thanks." "Huh?" I was nonplused. "Forget it." "Forget what? What's the problem?" "If you have to ask, there's no point in me telling you." "I don't understand, what are you talking about? What's happened? Why are you being so weird?" I was really confused and my voice was coming out as a slightly strangled sounding whine, not at all what I intended. He turned to face me, and I immediately wished he hadn't, his face was pale and drawn, his eyes lifeless. He looked pained, and I knew that something I had done was causing his pain. I felt awful. "If you can't be honest about meeting me, I don't think we can have any future." "What?!" I was incredulous. "What are you talking about, you said yourself that they wouldn't understand, so I just made sure there was nothing for them TO understand." "Exactly." He turned away again. "What the fuck kind of answer is that?" I yelled, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him round to face me. The expression on his face stopped me dead before I could say anything else to him, he looked anguished, his entire body stiffened and he spoke in a barely controlled whisper. "Let go of me." "Curtis, what..." "Get out." "Curtis." "Now!" For the first time he raised his voice and I jerked back a little. I had no idea what this hard faced boy might be capable of. "Please!" I pleaded with him. "For fuck's sake, Drew, just go." He turned away again and sagged over the wheel. "Just tell me what I've done." There was a silence, he lowered his forehead to the wheel between his arms and made a choked sound. I watched in horror as his body shuddered a couple of times and noticed with suddenly appalling clarity as a thin strand of saliva descended from his lips. He heaved a couple more times and spoke in a tiny voice that I could barely hear. "Please." "Oh God, Curtis, what is it." I slid over in my seat and placed my arm across his back, he made a sound halfway between a gasp and a moan and yanked sharply away from me, turning in his seat so he was facing in my direction. His face was contorted with what I now knew was pain rather than anger and he was breathing very raggedly. He roughly swabbed his arm across his face wiping the saliva from his lips and the traces of tears from under his eyes. "Why didn't you just go?" He breathed at me. "Because I care about you." I answered immediately and knew that it was absolutely true. I honestly did care about him, thoughts of Tyler were banished from my mind. All I knew was that Curtis was my friend and something was wrong. I felt a great upsurge of fondness for this strange young man and a terrible sick feeling that I might be the cause of his pain. "Really?" He winced as he moved in his seat. "Yes, of course I do. Please let me help you. Please." "Will there be anyone in at your place?" I was puzzled, was whatever was wrong so trivial that he was just casting it aside and offering me sex? My confusion must have shown on my face because he gave a sort of snort of laughter and then winced again. "Not what you're thinking, I guarantee it." "Um, Lois might be there, but we can go upstairs and she won't disturb us, I don't think." "Good enough. You're driving." He reached across himself and opened the door with his right hand, leaving his left where it was on the wheel and then with a slight gasp he slipped out of the car. I immediately scrambled out of my side, now that the penny had finally dropped and I realized his pain was of the very real and physical sort. "Curtis..." I began, coming round the car. "Later. Drive." And he dropped the keys into my hand. We both got back in and he held himself very stiffly and awkwardly as I drove to Lois's house. I kept glancing over him, but he kept his face turned away from me for the whole drive over and said not a word. When we got there I hopped out of the car swiftly and got round to his side just as he was swinging the door open. "Let me help you." I reached for him as he swung his legs out of the car. "No! No, I'm okay." And with visible effort he pulled himself up to his full height and placing his hands carefully in his pockets again walked towards the house. I walked beside him, ready to help him at a second's notice. We made out way into the kitchen, I could see Lois in the garden. "I'd better tell her we're here, ask her to leave us alone." "'kay." He said as he stood with one white knuckled hand gripping the edge of the counter. I quickly trotted outside and was about to call to Lois when from behind me there came a tremendous clatter of pans falling to the ground. Lois's head jerked up from the flower bed and I spun on the spot. Through the window I couldn't see Curtis, I threw the door open and covered the distance to him in three swift bounds. He was lying face-down full length on the floor. "Andrew? What happened?" Lois's voice came from the door. "Oh, my God!" She quickly joined me next to Curtis. "He, he fainted. I don't know what's wrong." "Help me carry him to the parlor." Suddenly my grandmother was terribly businesslike and clipped, she grabbed his ankles, leaving me to take his shoulders and between us we got him through to the parlor and stretched full length on the couch. He groaned once as we set him down and his eyes flickered but remained closed. Lois pulled up an eye lid and checked his pulse in a very professional manner, laid the back of her hand on his forehead. "What happened here, Andrew?" She turned to face me. "I don't know. I met him at school and he seemed strange and as he got out the car he was hurt, and I don't know." I babbled an incoherent answer. "Hurt?" "Yeah, he kept wincing and he was sort of holding himself weirdly." She looked at me for a moment and then reached out and pulled down the zip on Curtis's jacket. Underneath his rumpled blue shirt, the same one as the day before, had large reddish-brown stains on it. I knew instantly that it had to be blood. "Oh, God!" Lois breathed. "Andrew, medicine chest in the kitchen, get it." I stood staring at the patches of blood on my friend's shirt and moved not an inch. "Now, Andrew!" She barked and I shook myself and ran for the kitchen. When I returned, she had unzipped the jacket all the way down. "Good boy. Now raise his shoulders and help me undress him." I lifted him by the shoulders as Lois slid the jacket and shirt off in one go and revealed livid bruises all down his left arm and obvious blood stains on a once white T-shirt. She breathed in sharply and her hands hesitated before pulling the shirt out of his waistband. There was no way we were going to get if off over his head and arms so she simply reached behind her for her sewing scissors and cut it off him. I watched in horror as inch by inch his torso, that I had so wanted to see the day before, was revealed. It was covered in bruises, with a particularly large purplish one at the bottom of his rib cage. Someone had worked him over pretty thoroughly. There were several deep cuts on his shoulders and over his collar bone and a set of dark bluish bruises that looked as though someone had dug their fingers hard into his shoulder. "Lift him again, Andrew." I hesitated, I couldn't believe how bad he looked. But a sharp glance from Lois brought me back to Earth and I cautiously raised his shoulders from the couch, his limp body seeming to weight a ton. Standing, as I was, at the head of the couch I was the first to see the mess of his back. He was covered in welts and the cuts, all of which looked fresh and some were still bleeding. I caught my breath, Lois pulled the remains of the T-shirt aside and moved so she had a better view. She too caught her breath. "My God! Who could have done this? He's been beaten with a belt." I had no certain answer. I was appalled. At that moment, Curtis stirred a little and muttered something that sounded like it might have been 'what's happening'. His eyes flickered open, but he seemed unable to focus, blinking again and again at Lois. Then a change came over him, he tried to pull away from me and sit up but it was obvious that the kick he'd received to the ribs was causing him agony. He managed to swing his feet off the couch and looking round the room his gaze settled on me. "Why?" He said, so quietly it took me a moment to work out what he's said. I was about to answer that I didn't know, that he was okay and we'd look after him when he continued speaking. "Trusted you." I couldn't fathom what he was talking about. "Just needed to rest Where's my shirt?" He made as though to stand up, but collapsed onto the couch with a gasp as his back came into contact with the fabric. "You need more than rest, young man. You need medical attention." "No!" His voice had regained some strength, but his eyes were still roaming wildly round the room like some sort of caged animal looking for an escape route. Again they settled accusingly on me and my stomach flipped over, my eyes filling with tears. "Why?" he didn't sound accusatory though, just small and sad and weak. "You were hurt, you needed help." I tried to answer, but my tears made the words hard to understand. "No. No one had to know." And then he too was crying, bringing his arms round to cover his bruised and battered body, he curled into a sort of fetal position ad sobbed, great heart-rending sobs. Lois reached out and stroked his hair gently. "It's okay, Curtis. It's okay." She said soothingly as her hand moved over his dirty-blond mop, her face wore an expression of terrible sadness. "No one here is going to judge, we just want to help you." "Have to go." His words were muffled. "No way." Her voice was extremely firm and brooked no argument. "These wounds need to be dressed, and you need to rest. You're staying right where you are and I need to call a doctor to look at you. "No one else. Please." He looked up at her, his teary eyes pleading with her, projecting sincerity. She appeared to reach a decision. "Andrew, fetch some towels and warm water." I did as she said immediately and when I returned with the bowl and towels she was still squatting by the couch, stroking his hair and murmuring softly to him. "Curtis, try to sit up. Let me have a look at you." He groaned and looked for a moment like he might try to refuse or make a bid for freedom but finally, with my help, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Lois ran her hands over him expertly, noting when he winced and applying gentle pressure to the bruised areas in an effort to see what the extent of the damage was. "I really think we should call a doctor, I haven't done this in a long time." I remembered then that Lois had been a nurse before she met my grandfather. "No!" It seemed the one thing that Curtis was able to be firm about. He wanted nobody to see him looking like that. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Most of the damage is superficial. Which is not to say that it's not bad, but it'll heal. I think you have at least one cracked rib, but it doesn't seem to have done any internal damage. Whoever did this knew what they were about." She looked straight at him and he shuddered and averted his eyes. "I thought so." She said, but did not elaborate. Working quickly, she cleaned the cuts on his back and proceeded to dress them with antiseptic and bandages in a precise and clinical manner. Curtis took the whole thing in silence, though his fists clenched and his knuckles whitened. As she dabbed the antiseptic on, he bit his lip and I saw a tiny bloom of red at his mouth. Reaching out for him I took his hand and he squeezed back tightly and turned to face me, venturing the tiniest trace of a smile. It was heartbreaking, to see him, so brave but so vulnerable. When she finished she rocked back on her heels and looked at him sadly. "Drew." Her businesslike tone had softened. "Fetch a shirt and T-shirt for Curtis, I'll put his shirt in the wash and make some tea. Then we'll get this place tidied up. I bolted upstairs and grabbed a soft gray marl T-shirt from my drawer and a blue and green checked shirt for him. When I came back downstairs Lois was gathering the medical things back together. "Help him put them on." I gladly obliged easing the T-shit over his bandaged body and helping his arms into the sleeves of the shirt. He submitted meekly, wincing, and smiled that same small, sad smile at me again. "Thanks." He murmured as I clumsily did up the buttons on the shirt. Lois handed him a steaming and smelly mug of greenish tea and instructed him to drink it, he screwed up his face but it was clear from her expression that 'no' would not be an acceptable answer so he sipped tentatively at it. I sat on the couch beside him and he leaned slightly against me as he drank. I was acutely conscious of Lois watching us and felt suddenly incredibly awkward, but she smiled and nodded at me so cautiously I slipped my arm around him and though he tensed with pain at first he quickly relaxed and allowed me to support him gently. He quickly finished the tea. "Now, Drew, take Curtis up to your room and let him rest for a while, come back down here." I was going to protest and say I should stay with him. "We need to decide what to tell your mother." I saw that she was right. Keeping my arm around his waist I carefully helped him to his feet and, draping his arm round my shoulders he allowed himself to be guided up the stairs to my bedroom. He was breathing heavily by the time we reached the top floor and I threw back the covers of the bed roughly, lowering both of us into a sitting position at the edge of the bed as I did so. Then I stood and stooped to swing his legs round. I pulled his boots off and yanked the covers over him. "Drew." He whispered my name. "What?" "I'm sorry." I could scarcely believe what hefs was saying. Someone had beaten him bloody, with a belt, and he was apologizing? What kind of fucked up life did this kid have? "Shut up. You have nothing to be sorry about." "I know, but I am anyway. Thanks." He reached his hand out towards me and I took it and sat on the bed beside him leaning forward to kiss his forehead. "Least I could do. Couldn't let you die in the parking lot." He attempted a laugh, but stopped with another grunt of pain. "Try to sleep, I'll be back up soon. Okay?" "'kay." He closed his eyes and his entire body visibly relaxed into the soft warmth of my bed. Not even twenty-four hours ago I had been pondering what it would be like to have him in my bed. This was so far from what I had wanted it hurt, I found that tears were streaming down my face again. I ached for this poor, brave, boy that I hardly knew. Lois was waiting in the parlor, which looked as though nothing had happened when I returned. There was a pot of tea on the table and two cups, which she slowly and deliberately filled as I entered the room. I gave her a sort of pursed lip smile and she nodded to me to take a seat. "Andrew. This is not the first time Curtis has been beaten like that. His body is covered in bruises, some fresh, some faded." I suppressed a shudder. "But whoever did it, and I have a pretty shrewd idea who that might be, didn't touch his face or do anything that might have hospitalized him. I'm scared for the boy. Nobody should have to live like that." "You think it was his father?" "Yes. I'd put money on it." "The bastard." I said with as much feeling as I could muster. "My sentiments exactly. But the question remains of what we should tell your mother and whether we should notify the authorities." She looked pensive and sipped at the cup of tea, her face was unreadable. "He said he didn't want anyone to know." I thought I ought to fight his corner and stand up for what he wanted, but my tone made it clear that my heart wasn't in it. "They always do. The first step in stopping abuse is to persuade the victim to admit that they're being abused. I'm glad you brought him here, Andrew, that was a very responsible thing to do." She patted my knee. "Not really. He just wanted to go somewhere quiet to hole up for a while. If he hadn't collapsed we'd have gone upstairs and once he'd rested for a bit he'd have left." "To collapse somewhere else? Marvelous. He has about as much sense as you then. I don't think we have any choice but to tell your mother the whole story." "Lois..." I began. "Mom thinks Curtis is bad news, she'll throw him out. We can't do that to him. Can he stay here, Lois, please?" I gripped her hands and pleaded with her to let me help him. "No, Andrew. Your mother is more sensible than you give her credit for. But I think the real problem will be him leaving of his own accord rather than us throwing him out. That boy is stubborn and he's proud. He's obviously been looking out for himself for a long time and if he wasn't so weak this time, and I can only hope this is the worst it's ever been, he'd be out of here in a shot. The tragedy is, to think that he might go home to more of that." "Oh God!" I couldn't imagine why he would do that. I cast a nervous glance at the stairs and then back to Lois. "Okay, go and sit with him. I'll handle your mother." I hesitated for less than half a second, then I kissed her on the cheek and bounded up the stairs, "But don't disturb him!" She called after me. Upstairs, Curtis was fast asleep, he wore a slight frown and his left hand had crept up to his face allowing the tip of his thumb to enter his mouth. I stood in the door, catching my breath and staring at him, he was absolutely beautiful lying there like that. I cautiously crossed the room, anxious not to wake him, but as a board squeaked loudly and he didn't even stir I walked the rest of the way fairly normally and sat on the other side of the bed from him. I watched him for almost an hour before I adjusted my position and lying down behind him I draped my arm across him and hugged gently. He made a soft snuffling sound and his body shifted slightly to press back against me through the covers. He slept quietly and I lay holding him. My stomach ached and my mind swam with thoughts of awful life must seem to him, it made all my problems with my father look like a joke. I could hardly believe how ungrateful I had been for what, compared to poor Curtis's, was a quite wonderful life. I must have dozed like that, because I was awoken at nearly six o'clock by the sound of raised voices from downstairs. Taking care not to wake him, I slipped off the bed and went down to where my mother and grandmother were arguing. "Mom." She spun round to face me. "Oh, Andrew..." "Don't say it, mom. Please." I couldn't take recrimination, not right then. "Andrew, I'm proud of you." "You're what?" "Proud of you, for having the presence of mind to bring him here, so your grandmother could take care of him. That was the right thing to do." I was about to protest, as I had with Lois, that that wasn't what I had intended at all, but from behind my mother I could see Lois shaking her head at me, urging me to go along with whatever story she's told my mom. "I guess." I replied. "Is he asleep?" "Yes." "Okay, we need to talk about what we're going to do. The authorities have to be notified, something must be done to stop this." "No!" This time we all turned, to see an ashen Curtis making his way slowly down the stairs, clutching at the rail. "Who told you to get out of bed, young man?" Lois demanded. "Not now, mother. Andrew, help Curtis to the couch for God's sake before he collapses on the stairs." I did as I was bid and felt his body shaking as I led him across the room. He lacked the strength to resist me, but I had the feeling that he wanted out. Once he was seated, my mother drew a chair over and looked straight at him, he couldn't meet her gaze. "Curtis. Look at me, Curtis." He sort of looked up, but his hair covered his eyes, he looked utterly miserable, "Who did this to you?" He didn't respond. "Mom." I began to protest. "Shut up, Andrew." She didn't even look round at me and her tone told me I should do as I was told. "Why don't you and your grandmother go and prepare some dinner for us all?" I didn't want to leave him alone, but what choice did I have, he looked round at me with a mute appeal on his face and all I could do was shrug helplessly. I felt like such a weasel for abandoning my friend like that, but really, what could I have done? Once in the kitchen, we could still hear some of what was being said, at least my mother's questions, Curtis's answers were mostly whispered and impossible to make out. She asked him again who had done it. She asked how often it had happened, she asked how long it had been going on, if it was always like that, if there was anyone else involved, who he was trying to protect, what he was afraid of. On and on she went, I was less than useless at preparing dinner, I could only pay attention to the sound of my mother's voice as she interrogated Curtis. Then I thought I could hear sobbing from the other room and I dropped the spoon I had been holding, supposedly stirring some gravy, and started for the door. Lois grabbed my arm. "She knows what she's doing, Andrew, please trust her." For a moment I wanted to push her away and go to Curtis, but I didn't. I knew my mother was a good woman, and I knew she wanted to do everything she could to help. Finally, after nearly two hours, my mother came into the kitchen and wordlessly got a can of Coke. "Mom..." I began but she raised one finger to her lips, her face was set grimly and she walked back out of the room returning a moment later and drawing the door closed behind her. She took a stool at the counter and hung her head, letting out a long sigh. Lois and I waited in silence. "Mother, would you mind making up a bed in one of the spare rooms?" She asked raising her eyes to Lois's. I wanted to bound across the room and hug her, spin her round and whoop with joy. Lois smiled and nodded. "This is only temporary, mind you, but Curtis and I have agreed that he should stay here for a while. What he's been through is nearly impossible to believe, if I hadn't seen the marks with my own eyes I don't think I WOULD have believed him. He needs our support now, and it would be unforgivably heartless of me to send him away." "Mom..." Again I tried to speak, and again I was cut off before I could. "He's hopelessly ashamed of what happened. He blames himself, and he doesn't want to stay here, he has a very independent turn of mind, but he knows that he'll need a while to recover. We've agreed not to involve the authorities, though I can't say I'm happy about that. Where we go from here, I don't know." "Mom..." I made a third try. "In a minute, Andrew. Mother, would you mind doing that bed now, I think he should go back upstairs and lie down, he can eat up there, I think he'd appreciate the privacy." Lois nodded again and left the room. I was surprised at my mother's strength, when Lois left she turned to me. "Now, Andrew, Curtis doesn't want you to know this, but I think you ought. This isn't the first time his father has beaten him, but it is the worst. He's been thrown out with only the clothes he stands up in, so he won't be going back to him. It seems that what prompted this beating was Curtis's revelation to his father that he was gay. He says he didn't mean to tell him, but they were fighting and it slipped out that he had found someone he thought he could be happy with, he wouldn't tell me who, I think he's protecting somebody. If possible, we should get in touch with whoever he is. Do you know?" My mind froze, could he have meant me? After what he said yesterday, I wasn't sure, how could I be? But if he meant someone else, that was just too horrible to think about. And yet, at the same time I desperately hoped he had, I didn't care who he was with, me or someone else, so long as he was happy. Whatever, it was clear he hadn't told my mother about me and it dawned on me that I was maybe taking the news of his sexuality a bit too calmly. "Andrew? Do you know? Is it a teacher or something like that?" I unfroze and tried to focus on the question, I suppose my mother's conclusion was logical enough. "I don't know. I honestly don't." And in truth, I didn't. "Okay, I believe you." She pulled herself together. "Now I think he'd prefer it that we all just drop the subject for now. So, what's for dinner?" I had always admired my mother's ability to just switch like that. Lois returned eventually, having put a protesting Curtis to bed and the three of us ate dinner in silence, there seemed to be nothing more to say. When we finished my mother served another plateful and instructed me to take it to Curtis, saying that she had to talk to Lois in private. I resented being shunted aside like that, but I was also keen to see Curtis and thank him for protecting my secret, even in extremis. "Knock, knock." I said when I reached the door to the room Lois had put him. "Are you decent?" "Come in." He called faintly and I slipped into the dark room. He was propped up in the bed, wearing the T-shirt I had loaned him, I could see his jeans over the back of a chair as I set the tray down and clicked on the bedside light. I looked at him with concern and he gave me a feeble, but reassuring, smile. "Hey, you." I said. "Hey." "Brought you some dinner. You hungry?" "A little." He replied and I set the tray down across his knees, I turned to leave the room and let him have the privacy my mom said he needed. "Stay." I hesitated and turned to look at him, he looked so plaintive, "Please." "Okay." I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him wince as he tried to cut his food. It was pathetic to watch and it tugged at me. "Here. Let me." I took the cutlery from his grip and proceeded to cut the food up for him. He hung his head throughout the process and I felt terribly sorry for him, exactly what he didn't want me to do. "Thanks." He whispered as I handed the fork back to him. I squeezed his other hand gently, to show him that it was okay. "For everything." He fixed me with a heartbreakingly sincere look from his lovely green eyes and I had to turn away and mumble something about it being okay. "Thank you. For not telling my mom about me, I mean." He stiffened slightly "It never came up." He replied without looking at me. He knew now that I knew what he had said to my mother, but seemed prepared to pretend that he had no idea. If it made it easier for him to handle, I was prepared to play along. I watched him pick at the food in silence, sensing that there was nothing he wanted to talk about at that moment. Finally, he put the fork down, long after everything on the tray was cold and we sat looking at one another for the longest time, I took his hand again and squeezed gently. "Do you want to be alone?" "No!" He answered quickly. There was a rap at the door, and Lois slid in without waiting for an answer. She placed a steaming mug of tea, the same stuff as before, on the nightstand and stooped to pick up the tray. "Drink that down, Curtis, it'll help you sleep. And you, young man, at least make a show of going to your own room. You can slip back in here when your mother goes to bed." I flushed a deep crimson, and Curtis's mouth dropped open. "Just remember that the patient is badly bruised and shouldn't do anything strenuous, okay?" I just gaped, there was no way I could answer. "Good night, boys." She turned and left us to stare open mouthed at one another until finally I burst out laughing. He made a series of choked wheezing noises, which panicked me at first until I realized it was the closest he could come to laughter in his current state. Suddenly the mood in the room seemed vastly less tense, I rose and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you later." I said from the door. I went upstairs to my room and put on some music while I checked my email account and got ready for bed. About eleven o'clock my mother stuck her head in and said she was going to turn in for the night - claiming to be very tired after the day she'd had. I waited for a while, and then crept downstairs and opened the door to Curtis's room. Once inside, I paused to get my bearings in the dark and was aware of the low rhythmic, slightly strained, breathing of a young man sound asleep. I didn't mind, I just wanted to be with him, so I crept over to the bed and slid alongside him, much as I had earlier. He stirred in his sleep and I felt his breathing change. Rolling carefully onto his back he blinked at me and allowed his eyes to adjust to the low light, then gave a soft chuckle. "What happened to Mr. Fashion?" I looked down at myself, clad as I was in baggy T- shirt and outsized checkered shorts I guess he sort of had a point and I allowed myself a slight chuckle back. "This is the real me, take it or leave it." I shrugged. "I'll need to think about that." He joked, and without thinking I punched his shoulder lightly. He hissed his breath in sharply and pulled back from me. "Oh, fuck! Curtis, I'm so sorry, I didn't think." "S'okay, I was asking for it." "Sorry, man." I said again, but I could see from his eyes that he was okay. "Shut up and hold me." He whispered rolling once more onto his side so his back was towards me. Very gently I slipped under the covers with him and put my arm around him. For all his strength, he felt strangely fragile and I experienced a little thrill at how open and exposed he was at that moment, how much he was trusting me with his battered body. He let a long, slow sigh escape his lips and settled back against me. I shifted awkwardly, trying to keep my arousal from him, afraid that he'd think I was some sort of pervert, lying there with a hard-on while he was swathed in bandages. "S'okay." He murmured. "In fact, it's sort of flattering. Not that I can do much with it, right now." My heart nearly broke then, how could he think about my pleasure at a time like this? This beautiful, tragic boy with a heart of gold. "Roll onto your back again." I placed my mouth right by his ear and whispered huskily. He rolled over and looked up at me. "You don't have to..." "Yes I do." I said it quite emphatically. "I know what you told your dad, before... well, before." "You do?" "Yes." And so saying I dipped down completely below the covers. Using touch alone, I slipped lower down his body and found what I was looking for. I slipped the shirts down his things, him lifting slightly to allow me to, his erection springing up at me as I did. "Andrew." His voice came to me through the covers. I popped my head back up, inches from his and allowed my fingers to curl around him and squeeze oh so gently, eliciting a tiny gasp. "Andrew, you don't have to do this. I know you don't really want me, and it's okay. I told my dad for me, not you. You want Tyler not me." And it was true. I knew it and he knew it. Curtis was beautiful and sweet and wonderful, but he wasn't the picture that came to mind when I closed my eyes. Nonetheless, he was my friend, and this was something I wanted to do for him. To show him that I cared deeply about him, even if we weren't going to be an item, I wanted him to know. "I'm sorry, Curtis. I really am. You're a fantastic guy and you mean a great deal to me, even if we barely know each other." I let go of him and brought my hand up to stroke his cheek and his soft hair. "You too." "And I know Tyler is a jerk, and not even interested, but I can't get him out of my head. That's what I was going to tell you at lunch." "I know. It's okay, really." But his gaze would not meet mine. "Do you think you could accept a blow-job from a friend?" He chuckled softly again and turning his head, kissed the tips of my fingers. "I think I could just about live with it. You've got me all excited, and my arm's too sore to do anything about it." "Oh well then, it's practically therapy." "That's one way to look at it." He grunted as I returned my hand to his groin. That was all the encouragement I needed and I slipped back under the covers and engulfed him with my mouth. His body tensed as I began to manipulate him slowly with my hand and lips. It didn't last long, and even though it was my first time I guess it must have been okay, he certainly didn't complain. After a very few minutes, his hand in my hair tightened into a fist and he let out a low moan and shot into my mouth. Without thinking, I swallowed, and it didn't taste so very bad, in fact it didn't taste of anything much. I nursed on him for a few moments and then slid back up and kissed him lightly on the lips. His eyes were closed and his breathing low. "And I didn't even have to take you to a movie." He murmured as I settled back into the pillows beside him. I couldn't help but laugh out loud, but quickly stifled it for fear of being overheard. "Are you going to stay?" "Do you want me to?" "Yes." He answered simply and I felt such affection for him I thought I might burst. "Okay then." And I snuggled back up against him. We lay like that for a while, our breathing slowly coming into sync with one another and I began to drift off. As my eyes closed finally, I felt him shudder and in a small voice choked with emotion he whispered what sounded like, "I love you, Drew." TO BE CONTINUED... ==================