Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 13:34:14 -0600 From: Chris Owens Subject: stronger than he knows; chapter 6 - gay male/ high school Disclaimer: If you are under 18, it is illegal for you to read such things where you live or reside or gay relationships offend you...what are you still doing here? I want to thank my editor again for his continued help with my story. He has a story of his own called Alex's Guardian Angel. If you enjoy this site and this story, please consider donating so that this site may continue to run. Sorry for the delay in getting it out, but I've finally got the next chapter finished. I hope you enjoy it. Chapter 6: I woke up with a start, not realizing where I was for a few moments. I quickly noticed that it was my room I was in and that Alex was lying next to me. I smiled at how much he loved me that he'd slept next to me. I looked at my clock on the bedside table and saw it was a little after five am. I wondered how long I'd been sleeping and how I'd got from the hospital as the last thing I could remember was alarms going off all around Joey. The answer would come later. My bladder started telling me I needed to use the bathroom, so I quietly exited the bed and walked to the bathroom. I went pee, which was a much needed relief. I smelled something, which turned out to be me. I needed a shower bad and not feeling tired anymore, I decided to grab a quick one before everyone else woke up. I dried myself off, wrapped the towel around my waist and brushed my teeth. I thought how great it was to have short hair, not having to worry about styling it and I could leave it wet. As I was walking back to my room, I could swear I heard barking, but I dismissed it as just being a dog in the neighborhood. As I entered my room I saw that Alex was still asleep so I tried to be as quiet as possible, but he started to stir. "What are you doing up?" Alex asked me. "I couldn't sleep anymore." I replied. "How long have I been asleep?" "About 12 hours." He replied after checking the clock. "12 hours?" "Yeah squirt, you were really shaken up about Joey and we couldn't calm you down, so one of the doctors gave you a sedative." "Oh, so that's why I don't remember how I got home." "Yep, how are you feeling now?" I suddenly felt sad again and tears started to form in my eyes as I thought back to Joey and the machines going wild. "Ho-how i-is J-Joey?" I asked starting to blubber through my words. Alex motioned for me to come over to the bed, where he wrapped his arms around me and held me as I cried. After I'd calmed down some, he told me that Joey had been stabilized but the doctors had to induce a coma to help him recover. "S-so h-he will recover?" I asked, still slurring my words a little. "We don't know squirt, but this is his best chance." Just then, I heard the barking again. It made me raise an eyebrow. I know Alex heard it but he dismissed it as I had earlier. We'd been talking for close to an hour when Alex said he was gonna grab a quick shower and to wait for him, then we could have breakfast. I decided to get dressed and wait patiently for him, all the while I tried to maintain my composure and not start crying again. I ran the towel over my body and went to my dresser. I grabbed some boxers, socks a plain t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. Just as I finished dressing, Alex walked back in dressed in a sleeveless shirt and a pair of running shorts. "Come on squirt, let's go get some breakfast." I wasn't particularly hungry but my stomach began to grumble so I decided a little food would do me some good. When we got in the kitchen, Alex asked me what I felt like eating? "Scrambled eggs and sausage, please." "Coming right up, little bro." As we ate, I heard the barking again and it sounded closer this time. I decided it was time to investigate. I got up from the table after eating and when Alex wasn't looking I started towards where I thought I heard the barking from, the garage. I opened up the door to the garage and saw my father bent over and it seemed like he was trying to quiet something. I closed the door kinda loud to get his attention. He shot up almost immediately. "D-David, what are you doing out here?" My dad asked. "I've been hearing barking all morning and I decided to investigate." I said. "I guess I might as well show you what the barking is all about." Dad moved out of the way and to my amazement there was a Siberian husky puppy in a cage. He was so cute, jumping up and down with his tongue hanging out, and of course, he was barking. "His name is Nico," dad told me, as he unlatched the cage and the dog came bounding towards me. He jumped up and licked my face as I petted his soft fur. A smile was on my face the whole time, the first smile I'd had in days, but then I started to wonder, should I be feeling good knowing Joey is in the hospital? "David, it isn't a bad thing for you to be happy," my dad said. I knew he was right and decided that Joey would want me to be happy. I just prayed he'd be alright, and the puppy was cute and very lovable. I played with Nico for the next half hour until dad reminded us that we were going fishing and although I was feeling reluctant about going, I thought we could all use a bit of fun. While dad and Alex loaded the car, I continued to play with Nico. Dad explained that Adam was staying behind to spend the day with John's brother. When they'd finished packing everything into the car, we all got in and started on our way but before we got to the end of the drive, Michael ran up, dad motioned for him to jump in and off to the lake we went. Mom was the only one to wave us off as Adam was still in bed. The first half of the journey was fairly quiet, other than the music from the radio. Dad stopped to refuel the car and grab some supplies for later. While we were stopped, I got out with Nico to let him go to the toilet but he was more interested in playing. Everyone seemed to wake up more after the stop and the rest of the journey was more lively. We talked about what we were looking forward to, we joked about some of the past adventures we'd had while we'd been fishing and a few other family favourites. My mind did wander to Joey occasionally, but each time I seemed to start to feel down, Nico would lick my face and make me laugh. He seemed to know exactly what to do. I did notice that Michael and Alex would look at each other and smile and that would make me giggle also. I'm not sure if dad ever caught on. Little did I know what we would find out later. Finally after two and a half hours in the car, we arrived at Lake Neptune. We unloaded the car and started the trek up to a cabin dad said he'd rented. He said we'd be staying there tonight and leaving tomorrow. I began to feel uncomfortable and I was freaking out inside, but tried my best not to show it. Alex noticed when he looked back at me. He dropped back so we were walking side by side. He threw his arm around me and whispered in my ear, "it'll be okay bro, I'll look after you." This made me smile a little bit, and then he did something I didn't expect, he kissed me on the forehead. All the while, Nico was running alongside me. I thought, for a pup, he sure is obedient. I looked down at him and he barked up at me. "Feel a little better?" Alex asked. "Yeah, a little, thanks." Before I knew it we were at the cabin. We took our supplies inside and had a quick look around. I thought it was weird because even with Michael, there were more bedrooms than we needed. After we dumped our things we grabbed our poles and headed for the water. There was a boat tied to the dock as we approached. We got inside and my dad untied us from the dock and started the motor up. I was totally surprised at how calm Nico seemed to be in the boat. As we were riding out I thought I saw my cousin TJ and my uncle Jack fishing on the opposite embankment. I told dad to steer the boat closer to them so we could say hello. At almost the same time, TJ looked straight out at the water and we locked eyes. "Hey dad, I think that's cousin David in that boat." TJ said. "I do believe you're right son." Uncle Jack said. Just then, we arrived at the embankment and my dad turned off the boat. We hopped out and up to greet them. TJ and I played with Nico while we chatted, catching up on stuff, until TJ spoke up and said, "should we tell them?" "Tell us what?" Alex asked. "Well, I've been elected to the state senate again and we're moving back so I can be closer to the capital." Uncle Jack said. All of us said a resounding, "That's great!" "Where are you guys staying?" I asked, knowing there was plenty of room for TJ and uncle Jack to stay with us. "Well it's no real surprise to us that you're here David," said uncle Jack. "You see your dad and I arranged to meet here. We're staying in the cabin with y'all." "Oh cool," I replied. "Well I came to do some fishing so let's get back in the boat so we can do some, we'll see Jack and TJ later," said dad. We said our byes and got back in the boat. About 10 minutes later dad found what he coined as the "perfect" spot and turned off the motor. We got our lines ready and threw them in. It was as if Nico knew exactly what we were doing because he lay down at my feet and didn't make a noise. We had been fishing for maybe an hour when I looked up and saw two guys cuddling close. I stared on but was also shaking a little. Alex noticed and tapped me on the shoulder to try to get my attention. When I didn't respond, he looked in the same direction I was and instantly understood what was up. Michael was looking as well, by now. "What's everyone looking at?" dad finally asked. He looked over and answered his own question. A couple seconds passed by before he said anything. "That's sweet." dad said. "Sweet?" Alex, Michael and I exclaimed. "Yes. So what that it's two guys cuddling. They're in love, there's nothing wrong with that." dad replied. We sat there gob smacked for a few minutes. Nico broke the silence with a small bark. All of us chuckled slightly. "You guys didn't think I cared if someone way gay, did you?" dad asked. Alex spoke up first. "Well to be honest dad, we've never heard you speak one way or the other about how you feel about gays." "I'm sorry guys, but I do work with a few gay guys and I know that you and Michael have been seeing each other for a while and I've never objected." "You know about Michael and I?" Alex asked. "Yes I do and before anything else is said, all I've ever wanted is for my boys to be happy." Again, we all sat gob smacked. "How did you know Mr. McKenna?" Michael asked. "I knew because I know what it's like to have a secret relationship. I had one in college briefly." dad said. We were kinda shocked by dad's revelation, but feeling he seemed uncomfortable, we let the conversation go for now. We'd caught mostly small fish, but all of a sudden something big began to pull at my line and dad and Alex grabbed my line to help bring it in. It turned out to be a mackerel on my line. After bringing in the mackerel we decided to call it a day and head back to the cabin and meet up with TJ and uncle Jack. Uncle Jack and dad went in to clean the fish and prepare them to be grilled. Michael and Alex went off a little to talk while TJ and I played around some with Nico. It was rather warm still, so we decided to lose our shirts and jump in the water as dad and uncle Jack fired up the grill. Nico seemed to like playing in the water with us. Dad called us when the food was ready. When Alex and Michael turned up, Michael seemed a little upset. I managed to get Alex on his own for a second. "What's wrong with Michael?" I asked. "He's getting a little upset that our relationship is no longer the secret it once was." "But I'm not going to say anything and I don't see dad telling anyone either." "I know that but Michael's just getting used to the idea of others knowing is all, he'll be ok." "I hope so, I think he's great." "I do too squirt." We joined the others and ate the fish while passing bits to Nico. He seemed to love the fish. After we'd eaten, we relaxed a bit more and started making smores while we all took it in turns to tell a scary story. After the scary story was over and we'd finished the smores, dad and uncle Jack started the task of cleaning up. Alex poked Michael and motioned for him to follow. It took a little prodding, but Michael finally followed. "What's wrong with them?" TJ asked. "I don't know." I replied. "You were pretty quiet at dinner." Alex said. "I was just thinking." Michael replied with a sigh. I grabbed a rock from the ground and skipped it along the water, unsure of what to say next. "Do you wanna break up?" I asked a little fearful. "God no, I love you and I love us, I'm just scared of people knowing that we're together." Michael said. Tears were welling up in Michael's eyes. I reached out and wiped them away and caressed his cheek. He leaned into me and put his head on my shoulder. We walked like this for a few minutes until we came to a picnic table and sat down. I took in a breathe and released it before we continued talking. "I know you're scared about people knowing, I am too, but only my brother and my dad knows and I can promise you that they won't say anything to anyone." I took his hands in mine and said, "Michael, the rest of the world doesn't have to know about us. This will just stay between the four of us. I promise." We kissed for a few minutes until an idea popped into my head. "You wanna have a bit of fun?" "What'd you have in mind?" "I was thinking, how about we go skinny dipping?" We lost our clothes in no time and ran for the water. Meanwhile back at the cabin... Dad and uncle Jack started to clean up and TJ and I were playing with Nico. TJ found a stick that he threw for Nico to fetch and after a little coxing, he ran for it and brought it back to us. After a little bit of this, Nico started running around in a circle and barking. "Maybe he needs to go to the bathroom?" I asked, looking at TJ. "I think so." TJ said. We got up and were led to a place Nico found to do his business. We heard some laughter coming from a few feet in front of us and decided to see what it was. We really couldn't make anything out as it was dark out, but I knew it had to be Alex and Michael. Not wanting to cause any trouble for them and not knowing how TJ would react, I suggested that we head back to camp. TJ agreed with a yawn. When we got back to the cabin dad and uncle Jack had just finished cleaning up. "Where is Alex and Michael?" dad asked. "I think they just went off to talk alone." I said. We talked about sleeping arrangements. It was decided that dad and I would share one room, uncle Jack and TJ another and the last one, Alex and Michael would share. A few minutes later Alex and Michael came walking up. I could see through the window that they were laughing and enjoying each other. I smiled. Just then TJ came up to the window and asked what I was looking at. When he saw what I was looking at, he shook his head and walked away. I could have sworn that I heard him say "fags" under his breathe. I knew then that I'd have to get used to people not always being supportive, even in my own family. I sighed and let out a long breathe. I was going to tell Alex about it, but I thought better as it looked like they'd made up. "You guys better now?" I asked as they entered. "We're all good little bro." Alex said. "We are." Michael replied. I told him about the sleeping arrangements. We said our good nights and headed to bed.