This is an original homocentric love story. If you are offended by homosexual relationships, do not read. All characters and situations are fictional and of my own creation. Any resemblance to real situations or people, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

For more stories by Draconin, visit Tales of the Dragon.

Chapter 12

When the time came for Dan Phillips' arraignment, I offered him a deal. I'd drop the sexual harassment charge and the 'hate crime' part of the assault and battery, if he'd write a paper on the contributions and accomplishments of homosexuals in history, and do forty hours of community service working with the gay community. While the sexual harassment and assault and battery were, themselves, only misdemeanors that would likely only result in probation, adding in the 'hate crime' portion because of Dan's perception that I was gay could result in jail time - especially as I hadn't said anything during the encounter that could reasonably be interpreted as provoking the assault.

Unsurprisingly to me, he turned me down. His lawyer looked surprised, and whispered something to him. If I'd been that lawyer, I'd have been telling Dan that turning down such a generous offer would look bad to the judge.

I knew that Dan was afraid of his father. I told his lawyer that, but Dan wouldn't 'fess up.

The harassment at school had gone up, but as long as it was just words, I tried to ignore it. Mister Graves didn't. Using the Dan Phillips incident as his excuse, he put together an assembly, announced a no-tolerance policy towards harassment or bullying of any kind, including verbal, then announced that, pending the outcome of Dan's trial, he would be suspended from school for three weeks. By that time Dan had been suspended from school for two weeks already, which meant he only had one more week to serve, as far as the school was concerned.

That had been a week ago. It was now up to Dan and the judge what would happen next. Dan was too scared of his father to back down, so when it was all over, he had been sentenced to one week in Juvenile Hall, and one year's probation. I would have preferred that Dan get the community service, but all in all, I was satisfied.

No, I wasn't. Damn it all, I didn't like to see anyone bullied, and Dan was being bullied big-time, by his father. He had it worse than I had with my father! But unless Dan complained about it there wasn't anything anyone could do - and Dan wasn't talking.

Dan's father was later put in jail for ten to twenty-five years. Dan's brother hadn't pressed charges, but Dan did when his father heard that Dan had a boyfriend, and beat him bloody for it. We never did find out if Dan really did have a boyfriend or not. When he got out of the hospital he was put into the foster care system and disappeared.

I woke up with Jeremy snuggled up to me as close as a second skin. We'd 'made love' again last night. I had found that I liked having Jeremy in me once in awhile, but in order to get that and keep Jer's submissive side happy, I had to bottom from the top, lowering myself onto his erection while I straddled him, and do most of the work. If it had been something I enjoyed more often, I'da had massive thigh and leg muscles - but it wasn't more than a couple-three times a month that the urge caught me.

This morning, both of us would be moving a little gingerly, I think. Jeremy had mouthed off to a group of jocks, one of whom had made a disparaging remark, and had almost had the whole group of them pound him. If one of the teachers hadn't heard the whole thing and put a stop to it... Both Jeremy and the mouthy jock got an after-school detention. The jock also got an education on the 'why' of gay people and had all his fantasies regarding them - us - burst. Only time would tell if any of it sank in.

Jeremy, on the other hand, got his punishment from me in private later, at home. I really shouldn't have since, me knowing his kink, it was almost rewarding him, but I didn't stop spanking Jer's bare ass until he was crying and blubbering, and promising me he'd do better; that he wouldn't mouth off at 'the pricks' (sic) any more. That earned him another smack to his ass. One thing about doing it with my bare hand, though: my hand hurt more the longer I spanked him, so it was hard to over-do it.

"Ow! I'm sorry, Tan! I won't mouth off to anyone any more," he had said, correcting himself.

After ascertaining that he meant it, I had held and comforted Jeremy until he was mostly calmed down, then cleaned up my blond boyfriend. I'd retrieved a hot, moist washcloth from the bathroom and gently wiped the tears, and the little bit of snot that had come with the tears, from Jer's face while he tried to climb into me, silently begging to be held.

I often swatted Jer's behind, even in public, though I tried to make it seem like a macho friend thing when I did it where others could see. And in private I paid a lot of attention to that part of Jer's anatomy, from just lightly touching and petting him there, to grasping those round mounds tightly. I liked touching Jer, and especially his ass. 'Course I would have preferred to be able to walk with him with my hand in his back pocket rather than find excuses for a swat, but society wouldn't let me do that.

It didn't seem to matter to Jer, as long as I was paying attention to him. Of course I loved on 'most every other part of Jer, too. I loved to milk Jer's seed from him, and kept trying to come up with new and inventive ways and places to do it.

I even put Jer over my lap and gave him light spankings for teasing too much, being too blatant in public, and so on. It was mostly just an excuse and turned us both on, and made our sex even hotter. But spankings like this last one were rare.

"Damn it, Jer," I said, swearing at him softly, "you have got to get control of your temper! They're only words. Yeah, I know they hurt, but think of who said them; they're either ignorant bastards that have been taught to hate, or they're closeted and trying to hide that they're different, too.

"You mean they might be gay too?" Jer asked through his tears.

"That's what I've read, yeah. No way to prove it, though, so don't you go saying anything!" I remonstrated with him. "If it's true, you'll only make them panic and beat you up to 'prove' they're not."

The homophobia at our school never completely went away, and it wouldn't as long as society kept repeating the hateful and decietful lies they tell about us. Why can't they accept that we're born as we are, and except for who we love, we're the same as everyone else?

The GSA kept growing though, and we finally held elections. They tried to elect me, but I refused the nomination. The guy who'd been beat up after our first GSA meeting, Tom Norris, was elected. He was a good choice and really put that club on its feet, and organized committees for activities for it.

Our first dance was a rousing success, despite the couple of hecklers that showed up. They were quickly shown the door, and told that if there were any trouble, the police would be investigating them, first.

But despite that, Jer and I had a great time. We actually danced together. But talk about feeling awkward and self-conscious! Well, I was, anyway. Jer got over it a lot quicker than I did. By the end of the first dance, Jer was pretty comfortable with it, but I took about three dances to loosen up. And Jer had the right of it, really. After all, everyone at that dance was either gay, lesbian, or open-minded. I resolved to adopt a more relaxed attitude about it, and eventually I didn't care who saw us dancing together. During our later college years, I extended that to minor displays of affection out in the general public, too.

My father, true to form, never did change his mind, and remained a cold bastard. Mom and I slowly drifted apart over time. No hard feelings or anything; we just felt too awkward around each other. I think Mom felt guilty about 'abandoning' me to stick by her husband. I just didn't have that much in common with her anymore. That's not to say that we never saw each other, but it was usually just for special occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and later, my junior and senior proms, and graduations from high school and college.

Jer worked really hard in order to be able to test out of his senior year so he wouldn't be left behind or keep me waiting for him when I graduated. He succeeded, and we started college together. I did become a lawyer and specialized in family law, and Jer got a double degree in business and art. And a few years later, my mother attended Jer's and my handfasting, and had given us a pretty sizable chunk of cash to help us start our life together. Well, our formal life together as a couple, anyway.

But it felt odd - my feelings for my mother, I mean. I still loved my mother, but Mrs. and Mister G were the ones who really felt like my parents: Mister G, especially. My genetic parents raised me, but Mister and Mrs. G were the ones who actually stood by me when times got rough. Not to mention their support where Jer and I were concerned.

Life wasn't exactly a bed of roses, and Jer and I had our share of arguments and fights, but we loved each other and stuck it out together. It had been an unlikely journey but here we stood, hand in hand, facing the future together.

To point a finger is easy, it's true,
But look what happens when you do.
You point one finger to shame, cause rue,
But three more are pointing back at YOU.