Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:08:30 EST
From: HnstSkr4@aol.com
Subject: The Journey Begins - Chapter 15

Author's Notes:

Before I get into the Legal stuff, I want to say thanks first to my Editor,
Pete.  He always does a wonderful job.  Second, I want to thank my Readers.

You guys are the best.

Okay, these characters are not meant to resemble any living or dead person.
I make no apology to anyone who is offended by anything in this story.

If you don't agree with the idea of guys being in love, then find something
else to read.

Let me know what you think of the story by emailing me at
_Hnstskr4@aol.com_

Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011 by Chuck B.

The Journey Begins
Chapter 15
The Day It Came Together

Today is the day, that Sarah and Mark officially become my legal guardians.
I'm not going to bore you with all the details.  Mom, Dad, Sarah, Mark and
Steve were there, and of course, I was there.  In just a few short months,
my life has turned from normal to crazy.  First, there was Dale and all his
attempts at saving me from my sexuality.  Mom and Dad found out about me
via Dale's stupid ass.  I got kicked out by my parents.  Mom and Dad
basically gave me away.  Then there is today, I've been dreading it.  I
didn't want to face my parents.  Guess you don't always get what you want.

When I first saw my parents, Dad looked satisfied with what was going on,
but Mom looked sad.  What I don't get is, if she is sad, why she didn't
speak up is beyond me.  I just don't get it!  Well, I'm glad it's over.

I'm sitting here in the car waiting on everyone else to get in.  Steve has
already said that he wants to celebrate.  I just want to curl up into a
ball and cry.  Going out for pizza, or whatever Steve has in mind, is just
going to drag this torture on and on.  Sarah can tell that I'm not happy.
All she can do right now is smile at me.  It actually lifted me up just a
bit.

Sure enough, Steve has Mark take us to one of the local pizza parlors.  We
pull in, get out of the car, and head inside.  The host gets us seated and
the pizza gets ordered.  As we sit around and talk, I can feel the funk
starting to lift from around me.  Then it happens; Dale's family walks into
the parlor.  Everyone at our table sees them.  Man, this day just keeps
getting better and better.  Steve whispers:

"Forget them!"

I do my best to just block them out.  They're sitting there, giving me
dirty looks.  I feel like yelling at them.  I really just want to go home.
I know that everyone can see that I'm uncomfortable.  Steve finally
suggests that we should leave.  As we get into the car, Mark says that he
has to make one quick stop.  In a few minutes, the car stops at a jewelry
store.  Steve looks at me and says:

"Stay in the car!"

Then, Sarah, Mark, and Steve get out.  This is almost agonizing.  This stop
just slows me from getting home.  With nothing else to do, I grab my
mini-journal:

"Today starts me on a new path.  My parents are no longer my legal
guardians.  While I'm grateful to my sister and my brother-in-law for
taking me on, a part of me wants life to return to normal.  Right now, I'm
in the parking lot of a local jewelry store waiting on Sarah, Mark, and
Steve to come out.  It's been a long day and it's only 2:00 pm.  I don't
know what?"

Here comes everyone!  I quickly put my journal back into my bag.


Finally at home, I just want a nice, quiet day.  Steve disappears into the
basement.  Something about needing to make some calls.  I could really use
his support and he is off making phone calls.  Sarah sees me just sitting
on the couch looking blah.

"Cheer up, it's going to get better!"

"I know it will, but I'm feeling the blues right now. I should be happy
today, but I can't get Mom and Dad off my mind."

"Let yourself relax!"

I stood up to head upstairs as Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around me
in a hug.  I really want to go upstairs and hide.  I wonder if she noticed
how Mom and Dad seemed to be saying goodbyes with their facial expressions
at the end of the hearing.

"You know, Erik, this could be your chance at a fresh start."

"Sarah, I didn't think about that!"

She's right, I need to cheer up.  Steve must be coming back upstairs.  Sure
enough, it's Steve and he's smiling.

In fact, he is all smiles.  He doesn't smile like this unless something is
up.  No clue what it is though.  He's been way too secretive.  I don't know
if I like him being this way.  Sarah disappears into the family room and
then reappears.  Steve comes up behind me and places his hands over my
eyes.  Slowly, he starts guiding me around the living room and into another
room.  He removes his hands and I realize now that I'm in the family room.
A banner hangs above the fireplace.  It reads:

"Will you?"

This cannot be good!  Steve drops to one knee.

"?marry me?"

What?  Has he lost his mind?  I'm only a junior in high school and he's
only a senior and yet, he is my love and I can't deny that.  I can't
believe him.  I want to say "No!"  Honestly, I am frozen in place staring
down at Steve and totally speechless.  And it goes without saying that he's
looking up at me waiting for an answer.  I don't want to give him an answer
because I feel a little pressured to say yes.

From nowhere, the word "Yes" leaves my mouth.  It's actually spoken, not
from pressure, but from real true love.  Almost on cue, Mark enters with
champagne glasses and a bottle of sparkling grape juice.  He uncorks the
bottle and then pours each glass before passing them out to everyone.
Steve raises his glass and says, "To true love and everlasting happiness!"
We clink our glasses and drink.  Steve leans in after our drink and gives
me the most electrifying kiss of my life.  I can hear "Get a room!" come
from Mark's mouth followed by "Shut up!" from Sarah's.  I can't believe
that a kiss could feel like this.  When the kiss was broken, Sarah and Mark
were gone.

Right now, I am feeling a bit emotional.  I take one look at Steve and
start to cry.  I'm also not one bit sad.  Steve gets this worried look on
his face.

"Are you upset with me for doing this?"

"No silly, I'm crying because I'm happy."

Again he leans close to me and kisses me on the lips.  Steve breaks the
kiss and starts to talk:

"Is this really what you want, to marry me?"

"Of course it is, but I didn't think that we would be getting married so
soon."

Steve replied:

"I don't see it happening until we both graduate from high school, maybe
even later than that."

I wonder, 'Can I get Alex to be in the wedding?'  Hmm? so many questions
are running through my mind right now.

"What about college?" I asked Steve, hoping that he would have an answer
for me that I wanted to hear.  "We could end up at different schools.  We
might only see each other on semester breaks."

"You're right, we could, but we can do that," Steve answered.

I wanted him to say that, but Steve had better be right.

"Besides, we could just end up at the same school, you never know what the
future might hold."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, nothing is certain about the future.

"Our future could change."

His face got close to me and he whispered into my ear:

"I won't let it change!  Nothing is going to change how I feel about you.
I love you, babe!"

His lips moved close to mine and he kissed me again.

"I love you too!"

His eyes met my eyes and his lips started to move:

"I promise to love you and treat you like the prince that you are."

How can I turn him down now?  I feel like I've fallen in love with him all
over again.  Out of nowhere his phone rings and he answers it, despite my
silent wishes that he would ignore it.

"Sorry babe, I need to get home.  Mom needs my help with something."

He turned and left the room.

As Steve left the room, we both had smiles on our faces.  I want to walk
Steve out, but I was lost in the moment.  I just want to hold on to the
last 15 minutes of time.  The house could literally fall down around me and
I wouldn't care.  Sarah walked into the room and she has this concerned
look on her face.

"You didn't walk Steve out, so I thought that I had better come up and
check on you."

"I'm fine!  I just got lost in thought."

Guess I was still wearing my smile, because Sarah had to question it.

"So what has you so chipper?"

"I just have the most perfect boyfriend in the world."

I meant what I said, too.  He really is flawless.  Sarah gave me another
one of her killer hugs.

"I'm glad that you're happy!"

"Sarah, for the first time since the Dale situation, since being kicked
out, I'm happy."

She kissed me on the forehead like she use to do when I was little.  I knew
in that spilt second that she was proud of me.

I'm feeling like there is nothing in the world that can take me down.  I'm
going to be graduating next year and then it's off to college, and yet I'm
not afraid.  My future really does seem bright.  Everything seems so right.
Even Steve's minor imperfections have melted away.  I've decided that they
don't matter, because love will get us through.  Mark suddenly showed up in
my room with a gift wrapped up in red wrapping paper.

"Open this up when no one else is around!"

Mark set the present down and then winked at me.  Wait, did he just wink at
me?  How strange is that?  I closed my eyes and tried to sink back in time
to just before Steve left the room.  Must have succeeded, because love
seemed to cover me like a piece of armor.  I must have blanked out, because
when I opened my eyes Mark and my sister had left the room.

I went about my normal routine and realized that I had forgotten about
Mark's present.  Carefully, I opened it up, doing my best not to mess up
the paper.  Opening the lid of the box, I was a bit shocked to find
condoms, lube, and a toy.  Is this a joke?  If this is a joke, Mark could
do better.  Could this be pressure from Steve for sex, or is Mark just
covering any and all bases?  I hope it's the later, because I really
thought that Steve and I had agreed to wait for sex.

My phone rings.  I looked down to see who was calling and it just happens
to be Steve.  He must have known that I was thinking about him.  First
thing he says, before I can even say hello, is "I love you!"  I don't know
why, but that raised some real red flags in my mind.

"Guess what I got from Mark today?"

"What?"

Well, he seemed kind of shocked to hear that Mark got me a gift, so maybe
he doesn't have anything to do with this box.

"I got a box of condoms, a bottle of lube, and a small dildo."

"What?  Are you serious?"

"I'm totally, honestly, for real."

Now I hope he doesn't get upset with me for asking the next question.

"Please tell me this wasn't your doing."

"I swear.  I didn't know anything about it."

Have to admit that hearing him say that makes me feel so much better.

"Look, I know we'll have sex when the time is right and we're both ready
for it."

Again, he has restored my faith in his heart.

"Steve, I love you!"

In the softest voice that he can muster, Steve says:

"I love you too!  I need to go. I just called to say I love you."