Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2012 14:06:14 +0200 From: Noel Welch Subject: To Have Faith: Chapter 4 Part 2 Warning This story contains graphic description of sex acts betweens members of the same sex. If accessing material such as this is illegal in your country, province, or state, please do not continue reading. The characters contained within this story are entirely fictional and should be taken as such. Any resemblance to any person(s) living or dead is entirely coincidental. Chapter 4 - Part 2 We walked back to the car in silence, "Must you flirt with everyone?" he said heatedly. "I wasn't flirting, I treat everyone like that." I said defensively, it was true, my friends had always said I was too nice. "Well it's going to get you hurt, not all guys are as nice as you are," he said gruffly. "Well what about you huh? You're all touchy-feely with me even though you're straight, isn't shit like that gonna get me hurt?!" I was leaning against the car door, Callum was in front of me, standing quite close too, I noticed. "I'm not like other guys," he said cryptically, what the fuck does that mean, with that little comment he left me in a daze and got in the car, "Are you coming?" he asked. "Sorry, I was just thinking about the things we need to do before we go." I got in the car. "Hey, could we stop at a book store quickly, I'll need some books to read while we're in France." "Sure." I was busy on my phone, reserving seats for us on a plane for France, "Hey Alistair..." "Hmmm," I responded while looking at my iPhone, contemplating whether to sit near the aisle, or get a window seat. "Thanks for not asking earlier, about her." "No problem Callum, I could see you were still a bit hurt about what happened, I thought it a bit inappropriate to ask, since we're not all that close." I said, looking away from my phone's screen and at him. "I was in love with her Alistair, I thought she loved me, but that notion vanished when I saw her in bed with what I thought was my best friend," he said bitterly. "I felt so betrayed, so angry, that's when I started cage fighting, it was my therapy, my way of clearing my head." We had already arrived at the bookstore, which was about 10 minutes from Blueberry, the café we breakfasted in. I looked down and saw his hand gripping the gear stick so tightly his knuckles were white, I put my hand on top of his tense one, and I felt it relax. "Thanks Ali, I needed that. I haven't really spoken to anyone about this, ordinarily I would tell James all this, but seeing as he's busy with my ex, he's not high up on my list of favourite people right now," he said acidly. "I know we just met each other a few weeks ago, but you can tell me anything, plus you know where I live" I had taken his hand in mine and was tracing the lines on his palms. "Thanks, and I seem to have a spot open for best friend, if you're interested," he said with a lopsided grin. "What are the benefits?" I asked jokingly. "You get to spend all your time with me," he said with a cocky smile. "Uhhh I think not," I reached for the door handle, only to find that the door was locked. "Callum open the door." "Not until you say yes," he said with a smug smirk. "I'll think about it." "I need a yes." "Okay whatever, I'll be your friend." "Look at me." I looked over at him, "Yes Callum, I'll be your best friend," "Was that so hard?" "Excruciatingly so, now unlock the fucking doors so I can get me some books." I said excitedly, I left my roommate, and best friend, in the car, and proceeded to enter the quaint little bookstore. As I entered the store, a little bell above the door jingled, "Hi, how can I help you?" a deep voice asked. I looked for the source of the voice but couldn't find the mysterious helper. Whoever he was chuckled and said, "Up here." I looked up and saw what looked like a Nordic god, tall, with striking features and handsome with light blonde hair. I then noticed that the bookstore had two storeys, but the second had a huge portion of the floor cut out, so I had a clear view of the upper level as well. He descended the spiral staircase, "Hey, I'm Erik, how can I be of service?" *Well, he's eager*. "Ummm I'm travelling for a few days and I just wanted a few books to read, I just want to browse and see what you have." "Sure, what genre are you interested in?" "Right now I'm actually reading a fantasy series called the Wheel of Time, do you have it?" "We do, it's a really popular series, I've actually just finished reading the last one, what book do you need?" We were interrupted by a bell jingling; I looked around to see Callum entering the store. "Hey Ali, sorry I was just on the phone with my father, we were discussing the travel arrangements," he said while slipping his arm around my waist. "I need books ten to thirteen, you must tell me how it all ends, I can't wait for the last one to come out next year." "When it does, you'll be the first person I call, come, let me show you to our fantasy section." I worked myself out of Callum's arm, "Hey, while I'm looking for those books maybe you can find some picture books to entertain yourself with," I said with playful smile. "Whatever, nerd, find me by the magazines when you're done." I felt a little good because for once I was the one who was doing the teasing. I briskly walked over to Erik, "Sorry about that, we can go now." We were walking to the fantasy section when Erik asked: "So where are you and your boyfriend travelling to?" "He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends, and we're going to France for the week." "Sorry, he put his arm around your waist so I assumed you were a couple." "No, not at all, he can be a bit touchy at times, that's all." "Well here we are," he said as we found ourselves by the fantasy section. I scanned the tall shelves for the books I wanted. I found them, but as I reached for them, I realised I wasn't tall for enough. "Here, let me get them for you," he said as he stretched to reach them, he was close to me and I felt his chest graze my back as he retrieved the books for me.* I think he's interested in me*, I realised that he was discreetly asking me if I was single by stating Callum was my boyfriend. "Thanks," I said as he handed me the books. "I'll be at the counter when you want to ring them up," he said, heading off to the counter near the front of the store. I trailed off to find Callum by the magazines, "I just have to pay for these, then we can go, and I can put you out of your misery," I said noticing his bored expression. "Finally," he groaned. "Shut up, it wasn't even that bad, or do you want us to stay for a while so I can look at more books?" "No, no we can go now," he said, with a slight panicked expression at the prospect of staying here longer. We headed to the counter where I paid for the books. "Hey, we should meet up for coffee when you're back, so we can discuss the books," he said while flashing a dazzling smile at me. "Definitely." We exchanged numbers, and he made me promise I'd text him when I got back. "I'm sure all he wants to do is talk about books," Callum said darkly as we were exiting the shop. "There's nothing to be jealous of Callum, besides it's not as if I can talk to you about books." "I'm not jealous; I just don't think his intentions are pure." "Whatever his intentions are, I can take care of myself Callum." "I know," he said grudgingly, "Let's get home and pack, we have to be at the airport early tomorrow morning." I plugged in my phone to the car music system, I felt like listening to Florence + the Machine, so I played the album; we sat in silence listening to Florence's Shake It Out. We arrived at school, as soon as Callum stopped the car I was out and jogging to our dorm so I could start reading my books. Callum found me curled up in the window seat reading my book, he chuckled. Callum shrugged off his jacket, sat down and turned on the TV, flipping channels until he settled on a rugby match. "Hey, it's your team," he said referring to the fact that South Africa was playing. "Against who?" "New Zealand." "Oh, we're probably going to lose then, badly." "Have some faith." "Firstly, I'm atheist; secondly, the team isn't stable due to the fact that they're having problems with their coach." "You're atheist?" "Yup, oh look New Zealand scored a try." As planned, my comment switched his attention from me to the game. "Don't think your little comment distracted me, we'll talk later when New Zealand isn't kicking South Africa's ass." I smiled at this and continued reading my book. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely tired. I looked outside and saw that it was still dark outside; I checked my phone and noticed it was still 4 in the morning, and to think some people wake up at this time every day-how horrid, I thought, well I'll soon be having to wake up early because next week, school starts. I looked over to Callum's bed; well someone didn't hear the alarm, because he was still softly snoring in his bed. I dragged myself out of my incredibly warm and comfortable bed, shuffled over to Callum's bed, "Callum... Cal... wake up dude," I said while gently shaking him. His back was to me, and his only response to my ministrations was to grunt and turn to face me. "Callum!" I groaned. His arm shot out and he pulled me into bed with him, "Cal, we're going to be late and potentially our flight!" I said urgently. "Shh, just sleep," he grumbled, he put his muscular arm around me, and that's when I realised we were spooning. It was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open; I stopped resisting and soon fell asleep. My eyes shot open, shit, what time is it, I asked myself in a panic. I grabbed Callum's phone and saw it was only 4:30, which means we only slept for half an hour, I thought to myself in relief. "Mmm, what's wrong?" "How do you know anything is wrong?" I asked. "I felt your body tense." I blushed at this, "You're blushing right now, aren't you?" "No, I'm not," I said while slipping out of his bed. I picked up my outfit I decided to wear to the trip and hurried to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, and as I was coming out of the shower, Callum walked in the bathroom. I wrapped a towel around my waist as calmly as I could, 'cause I knew if I panicked and covered myself quickly, Callum would tease me relentlessly. He wolf-whistled, "Nice ass!" I sighed, albeit with a small smile on my face; Callum was nothing if not predictable. I rushed through my morning routine and went to check if I had forgotten anything, I considered myself to be a dreadful packer because whenever I went on holiday, I always forgot one or two things. Okay, everything is in order, "Callum! Where are your car keys?" "In the front pocket of those pants I was wearing yesterday." "You'll find me at the car, I'll take the bags and stuff, don't forget to bring your passport!" "Yes, mother!" I located Callum's jeans, fished around for the keys, and upon finding them, lugged our bags to the car. I put the luggage in the trunk, and quickly got in, as it was overcast and quite chilly and I was only wearing a thin cashmere sweater and shorts. I switched on the heat, and warmed up while waiting for my roommate. He joined me a minute later and we were on the road to the airport. A normal trip to the airport took about 1 hour 30 minutes, but with Callum's driving, we'd probably make it in half that time. I plugged in my iPod, to the music system, selected a playlist called "Poppin' Tracks", which was a mixture of drum 'n bass and electro, my two favourite genres of music. The trip to the airport seemed to fly by in a whirlwind of awesome music and dangerous driving. We parked, got our bags from the trunk and briskly proceeded to our terminal, while I scolded Callum for making us almost-late with his antics. We handed out passports and ticket to the lady behind the desk, who told us to go through. Eventually, we found ourselves in the first class lounge; I took my book and iPod out of my leather satchel, and proceeded to avidly read my book. Absentmindedly, I noticed Callum stand up and leave. 15 minutes later, he came back with sandwiches and coffee. "Here, you haven't eaten yet, I got you a hot chocolate since you don't like coffee." "Thank you," I said, with a surprising amount of sincerity, "I didn't think you'd remember." "I know quite a lot about you," he said cryptically. "Hmm, like what?" "You're ambidextrous, when you're confused or disagree with something you tilt your head, you blush the most when you're with me, and you don't like it when people assume you're gay. Need I go on?" I was speechless; I didn't know he paid so much attention to me! Finally I said, "Well, well, well, congratulations Sherlock. Is it my turn now?" "Sure." "You recently quit smoking, you're highly competitive to a fault as a result of your daddy issues, and you think you're more charming than you really are." His eyes widened slightly at this. We continued eating; we made up funny backstories about the strangers walking past us to pass the time. Finally, it was time to board the plane; I stood up, keeping my eyes glued to my book. I decided if anyone could walk and read at the same time, it was me. I was successful for the first 30 seconds, that's when I slipped, but strangely my ass never hit the ground. That's when I realised I was in the arms of a stranger, close enough that our noses were almost touching, "That was close," he said with a hot Southern accent, "Ummm, thanks for saving me from up-close and personal time with the floor but could you let me go," I quickly looked around at Callum a few metres in front of us, looking at us with clenched fists, "'cause my friend looks like he's gonna come over here and put you in chokehold." He laughed; it was a full, rich sound, "I highly doubt that," he said, while holding me. "If we don't go now, we'll be late for our flights." We hastily picked up my stuff scattered on the floor, and jogged to the boarding gate, "I'm Lucas by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said while we were jogging; I laughed at this, "Alistair." Finally, we entered the plane. I noticed Lucas properly, he was wearing a white wife-beater, tight Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. I noticed he asked the flight attendant if someone was seated next to him, she said no. I asked him why, "So you could come sit with me," he said with a hopeful but sly grin. "Let me just tell my friend that I'll be here with you." I walked up the aisle to first-class, and found Callum sitting by the window, "Ummm Cal," I said with a questioning tone. "Yeah." He wasn't making eye-contact, instead he was staring outside the window, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to be in economy with Luca, is that okay?" "You can sit with whomever you want," he said flatly. Ouch, that stings a bit. I didn't linger, Callum seemed to be angry, though if his anger was directed at me, it was undeserved as I hadn't really done anything wrong. I made my way back to economy and sat with Luca, "Was your friend okay with you sitting here?" "Not really, but he'll survive." I sat down next to him, "Can we swop seats; I really like looking out the window." He chuckled, "Sure." We swopped seats and I got to know the hot cowboy who caught me... Sorry guys I didn't really know how to end that chapter... you can email me your opinions on what I did wrong or what I did right, or alternatively you can just email me what's on your mind, until next time guys :)