Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 13:19:17 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part V, Chapter 14 W.A.R. Part Five - Secrets Chapter Fourteen - Trip by Jeff Wilson A lot of people don't think that Brett has a temper, but I've realized that he can be just as bad as me. The difference is, I let it all out at once, but Brett keeps it in and just stays mad at you for a long time. And he doesn't talk to you. That's the hardest part about Brett being mad at you. So Brett ended up in a huge argument with his mom. On the night he got back from his youth group meeting, he found out that she read his journal. Worse than that, he found out that she knew about us. I was a little worried when he knocked on our door at about nine o'clock that night and told me he was staying with us and never going home again. Earlier, I had told dad about my conversation with Dr. Reilly, so he quickly figured out what was going on. Luckily, mom was working and wasn't home. Dad asked me to let him talk with Brett privately and they spent about two hours talking. I waited in my room for a while, wondering nervously what was going on. I wanted to listen in, but I decided not to. A few times I could hear Brett yelling. I knew it was a serious situation. Eventually, he came into my room. "I fucking hate my mom, Billy," he said before he collapsed on my bed. I could tell right away that he had done a lot of crying and was about as spent as I've ever seen him. I got a little out of him. Dad had called his mom and spent a good hour talking between the two of them. That didn't accomplish much, but then dad talked with him for a long time. Brett didn't tell me what was said between them, he never did. I knew for a long time that sometimes Brett and dad would talk about things. Neither one of them ever said anything about what they talked about. I never forgot the time he talked with Brett after he punched me. I still don't know what dad said that night to get Brett to come back inside. Dad just had a way of talking with people, I guess. Well, we didn't do much sleeping that night. And it wasn't for the usual reason. Brett tossed and turned and I even heard him crying at one point. I reached over and put my arm over him and he moved closer to me. That seemed to give him some comfort to sleep through the rest of the night. It didn't make going to school the next day very easy, though. Brett was a wreck and I was exhausted. Things eventually settled down though. After we got home, Brett told me he was going to sleep at home, and spend his days at my house. I didn't argue with him. He had his mind made up and that was what he was going to do. So for the next two weeks, Brett would come over after school and go home for bed. Surprisingly, Dr. Reilly let him do it without any argument. At first, I thought it was because she didn't want to see him. But I started to realize that it was really because she was almost afraid of him. She wasn't afraid that he would do something… She was afraid if she confronted him again that he'd really get mad and never forgive her. So Brett basically could do whatever he wanted and his mom wasn't going to stop him. In fact, the only people who could really tell Brett what to do were my parents. Mom didn't know why Brett was always around, but that didn't stop her from putting him to work. Surprisingly, he always did anything she asked and never complained one time like I always do. Dad would talk with him sometimes, to the point that I was starting to get jealous of how close they were. I didn't think it was fair that Brett was getting along better with my parents than I was. But I knew that he would have rather been getting along with his own mom. Brett's sixteenth birthday came, and with it a party at his house. It wasn't a big ordeal, just people from the school and stuff. It was fun. Brett smiled more in one day than he had in three weeks. And then soon afterward, Brett took his learner's permit test. It only took him one time to pass… That's all I have to say about that. As the weeks led up to Easter, dad started talking about a trip to Bedford. I was beyond thrilled when I found out that he not only wanted to take me, but Brett as well! Dr. Reilly, hoping that things would get smoothed over, agreed to let Brett go with us. I couldn't wait for Easter vacation to come. I would have three days with my boyfriend in the mountains. My mind raced with all the things we could do to each other. Err… I mean "with" each other! The time finally came to go. Brett already had his stuff at our house. We had a half day of school on Wednesday, then we would spend the afternoon driving up to Mr. Nicholson's cabin. Then we'd have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before heading home Saturday night. Dad was waiting for us after school let out at our house. He handed the keys to the truck to Brett. That meant I had to spend the first part of the trip in the little seat behind the driver's seat. It didn't bother me though. I was just so excited about going on the trip that I'd have rode on the roof. Dad seemed to be pretty comfortable with Brett driving his truck, even though he only had about three weeks of total driving time. I just sat back and enjoyed the trip. When we got to the turnpike, dad had us switch so that I got the chance to do the driving. After about two hours, we arrived at the cabin. I had been to the cabin before, and this time I got to watch Brett's reaction when he saw how big everything was. It wasn't a cabin so much as it was a giant house in the woods. Dad spent the first hour or so showing Brett all of the things he did to put in the wiring. He even showed him some things that he hadn't shown me. I was pretty tired after a day at school and then a two hour drive, so I wanted to take a nap. That's when dad told us that we'd be staying in different rooms. "Why do we have to do that?" I asked. "Because I don't want you boys up until three in the morning doing… stuff, instead of sleeping. I didn't bring you two up here for a romp in the bed. I brought you up here for some good fun, without any of the extra-curriculars. And besides that I promised your mother that I'd keep you in separate rooms, Brett." Brett scowled. "Well screw her then, Mr. Roberts. We're two hours away. What difference will it make?" "I made a promise. You'll still see each other the whole time you're here." Dad said. "That's not fair." Brett said crossly. "Brett, the decision is made." Dad said. We were kind of mad about not being able to be together. But, we got over it pretty quickly though. I went ahead and took my nap and felt refreshed and ready for the rest of the day. When I walked down from my room to the main room of the cabin, I found a note from dad, saying that he and Brett had decided to go fishing. I felt a little angry at first. They told me they weren't going to go anywhere until later, but then they had gone anyway. But then I realized that I had the place to myself with a television hooked up to all the television stations I could hope for. I decided that since I had the place to myself, that I would make myself as comfortable as possible. I took off everything and had a nice shower. I took out my contacts and didn't intend to put them back in until it was time to go to school again. I sat on the couch in my boxers and ate chips and drank pop for a few hours. I enjoyed watching a few movies that I hadn't seen before. When it got dark, Dad and Brett made it back to the cabin. They were laughing and it looked like they had had a good time. "Thanks for waiting." I grumbled. They didn't seem to care that they had left me all alone while they were out having fun. We had dinner together and then Brett and dad went to their rooms for sleep. I told them that if they had just gone to take a nap like I did they wouldn't have been tired. Dad just laughed and went to bed anyway. Brett tried to stay up with me for a little bit, but he ended up falling asleep on the couch after about a half hour. I woke him up and told him to go to bed, then spent another hour or so watching a movie before jacking off and then heading to bed myself. If they didn't want to have fun with me, then I'd have fun without them. The next day started out pretty slowly. I showered and then shaved afterward. Yes, I know… Who shaves when they go camping? Well… I like to keep myself looking nice. Brett, however, had decided not bring his razor along. I offered him mine, but he said he didn't want to shave while he's camping. Dad, of course, always had his beard, but he was letting it go while on vacation. I put my glasses on and headed to the kitchen. Dad was making all kinds of things for breakfast, ham, eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast. You wouldn't think from looking at him that my dad was any kind of cook, but he was really good. I think that because he could barely taste anything, he had to make it really good for him to taste it. We decided to go fishing in the morning, and then dad wanted to leave us alone for a while in the afternoon while he took care of some business. So we all piled into the truck and dad drove us to a lake which was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those mountain lakes that they put on magazines and puzzle boxes and stuff. We caught a few fish here and there. Brett slipped on a rock and fell in the water, but he did more laughing than complaining, even though he was very cold. Since Brett hadn't brought any extra clothes to the lake, dad decided that we should head back to the cabin so he could dry off. It was close to lunch time when we got back, so dad cooked some hot dogs and hamburgers while Brett changed clothes. Dad left around the middle of the afternoon, he didn't say where he was going, just that he'd be back after dark. After he left, Brett and I watched television for a little while. "This is stupid." Brett said suddenly. "Why?" I asked. "Because this is what we always do. We have all these woods to ourselves and we're watching television. Let's go exploring or something." "Works for me." I said. I didn't really care what we did as long as we were together, and going for a walk did sound like fun. So we made our way down one of the many paths that led through the woods surrounding the cabin. We took our time exploring the many trees and rocks along the path. I was surprised when Brett grabbed hold of my hand as we walked along. I gave him a look and he let go. "You didn't have to let go." I said. "Nah, it's silly." Brett replied. "No… It's just… Well… We've never really been able to do anything like that before. Not out in the open anyway." I said. "Well I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Brett said. "You didn't make me uncomfortable, I just didn't expect you to…" Brett interrupted, "You realize the only thing keeping us from being totally out in the open and happy now is the fact that you're too stubborn." "I am not!" I replied. "It's just that…" "You're paranoid. Your mother's going to kick you out. Your friends are all going to hate you. People are going to make fun of you. It's all in your head Billy. Shit… I thought the world was going to end when I found out that my mom knew. But you know what? Now things are okay." "Okay? I thought you were pissed off." "Well that was before she bought me a car." Brett laughed. "What!?!" I exclaimed. "Billy, you have to learn how to negotiate without blowing up. The silent treatment works so much better than throwing a fit." "But you cried! You stayed at our house for…" "Well that was when I was upset. I didn't stay angry. Once I realized that I could use it, I just went with it." Brett said. "You really are a bastard." I said. "I've come to embrace it, yes. Brett laughed. "Bastard, bastard, bastard. It doesn't really mean anything anymore." "Yeah, no use being upset about something that you had no part in." "Yeah, kinda like being gay." Brett said, none-to-subtly. We walked into a clearing. I sat down on a log. "You just don't get it, Brett. I know that people know about us. Joey knows. Dustin knows. I'm sure that other people have us figured out. Hell, Miss Winston even knew. But still, just the fact that they think it doesn't bother me. But if they know that it's true… Life's hard enough without adding everybody knowing about us. You know?" "Billy, you're not going to believe this, but I really am a lot happier now that my mom knows. I admit it, I was really hurt at first. The way she went through my stuff… That still hurts. But not the fact that she knows about us now. It's like, you're not my big secret anymore. I don't feel scared anymore. Don't you feel the same way around your dad?" "My dad isn't a religious whacko, Brett. Mom is. She flat out told people that she thinks gay people will go to hell just because they are gay. That's it, gay equals hell. One of two things will happen when she finds out… She'll either kill me or have a stroke. This isn't like it was with your mom. Your mom understands that people can't pick their sexuality. She knows we didn't just decide to be gay. My mom thinks it's a sin, and she doesn't care how you got that way." Brett stared off into the distance. I'm not sure what he was looking at, but I knew that he was trying to find something to say. "I don't know what to say." He finally said. Well that was helpful. "If you want to spend the rest of your life pretending that you're something that you're not until you die, then have fun. But don't expect me to be a coward with you. I really don't care who knows anymore… I don't think I ever really did. You're the one who's always been scared about people finding out about us. I say fuck 'em." "It's not that easy." I replied. "I never said it was easy. But it sure beats being a fraud. I'm gay. Always have been, always will be. To pretend I'm something else makes me a liar. And that's a sin too, so you get fucked either way. At least you can be a happy sinner instead of a miserable one." "You're something else. You know that?" "I know. Now let's head back to the cabin and have some real fun before your dad comes back." Brett said smiling mischievously. "But we can do that anytime." I said laughing. "But not outside…" Brett hinted. I raised my eyebrows at that. This did sound interesting. We started walking back toward the cabin. It was getting a little late, but the sun was still bright and it was still warm. Brett decided to race with me, but I was faster than he was and I got to the cabin first. Brett was laughing when he got to the cabin a full minute after me. "Okay… First one gets to pick what we'll do, so what do you want to do?" He said. "Let's do it out here, on the porch." I replied. "Heh heh… Okay, I'll go get the stuff." Brett said. "No," I said. "We don't need any stuff. We've got everything we need right here." I said, revealing that I'd brought a small bottle of lotion with me on our trip. "You mean you had that with you the whole time and you never said anything? Why didn't we just do it out there?" Brett laughed. "You never asked." I laughed. Brett joined me on the porch and we kissed each other. I felt a little nervous doing it outside. Even though we were alone, I still felt like anyone and everyone could see us. Brett tugged my shirt loose and slipped a hand under it. He also moved from kissing my lips to kissing my neck. I wrapped my arms around his waist and let him take control. Brett turned around and rested against the hand rail that surrounded the porch. He pulled away a bit and kissed my lips gently again before resting his arms against the rail. I kneeled down in front of him and unbuttoned his jeans. I didn't pull them all the way off, I slipped his pants and underwear down just enough to allow his dick and balls to be able to breathe. Brett pulled his shirt off and I rubbed his belly and chest. He was getting the slightest bit of a hair trail between his dick and his belly button. I rubbed that a little bit and it made Brett moan. That made me smile and do it again, this time with my tongue. Brett moaned a little louder, and I think he was beginning to realize that he could be as loud as he wanted to be and no one would hear. At the moment, I didn't know who was going to do what if we decided to really get into it, but I was getting so turned on by him, I was ready to let him do anything he wanted. His dick was fully charged by the time I decided to give it some attention. I always liked blowing him better when he was completely hard. Soft was okay, but when he's hard, there's just something about it that I like more. I tugged his underwear down a little more and grabbed the base of his dick. I looked up at Brett's face and he smiled down at me. That was all it took for me to start in on him. I sucked and licked and basically had my way with him for a few minutes. Brett rubbed his fingers in my hair while I moved my lips and tongue all over him. Brett pulled his pants past his butt and jumped up on the railing. I pulled his pants the rest of the way off, and I pulled his shoes and socks off for good measure. I didn't care if we were outside or not, I've got a thing about being completely naked with Brett when we do it. No shirts, no shoes, and no socks! Totally naked is the best. I love to feel his bare skin rub against mine. I love to feel him the way God made him. Plus he was just so fucking hot that I wanted to see him naked as often as I could get. Well, with him sitting up on the railing and able to spread his legs wider, I really went to work on him. I licked him up and down, all over his dick, but especially over the tip and the hole while I jacked him off. I knew that drove him wild and it worked. He almost fell right off the porch a time or too, and he had to make me stop before he would come. "My turn." Brett said as he jumped off the railing. He stood there naked and he must have decided that it was time for me to join him. He kissed me deeply before yanking my flannel off, then he pulled my shirt off and kissed me again. He pushed me up to the picnic table on the porch and unbuckled my belt and pants. He didn't waste any time going right to work on my dick, which was already hard as a rock. He switched from my dick to my balls and licked them all over. I let out a moan that surprised me with how loud it was. I guess I'd been keeping it in. Brett let up and told my to stand on the table. This was getting a little kinky, but I went ahead and did it. Brett gave my pants another little yank and pulled them past my butt. I wanted to be out of them completely, but Brett just stood in front of me on the ground and pulled my dick into his mouth again. I subconsciously looked around while standing on the table, seeing if there was anyone around. There wasn't, of course. I reached up and held onto one of the wooden support beams while Brett licked my dick all over. Then, to my surprise, he told me to turn around and bend over. I did it. Brett tugged my pants and underwear down to my ankles. Then he grabbed hold of my balls and started licking them gently. Then he licked between them and right up to my butt crack. He kissed one side and then the other side of my butt before pulling my cheeks apart and licking my hole. I could hardly stay on my feet when I felt his tongue hit me there. I had done it to him a few times, but he'd never done it to me. In fact, I got the feeling that he was a little uncomfortable with the fact that he liked it so much. "Oh my God!" I said without even meaning to. I couldn't believe that Brett was going so far. Any thought that I was going to do anything but let him fuck me went right out the window. I wanted him to put his dick in me in the worst way. I couldn't even see straight as the feelings of pleasure went right up my spine. I stepped away from him and sat down on the table. Brett pulled off the rest of my clothes and then we kissed again. This kiss was even more intimate and passionate than before, and our dicks jostled as much as our tongues. I grabbed his and pushed it down to rub against my ass. Brett pulled me up off the table and I got on all fours on the floor of the porch. Brett slicked himself up and knelt down behind me. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him slide into me. I pressed myself hard and felt him slam into my butt. Brett fell forward against my back. "Wow," he whispered. He got back up on his knees and started rocking himself hard into me. We both were moaning and breathing heavily, much louder than we ever had before. Brett put his hands on my hips and pulled me hard, over and over again. Brett did that for a minute or so, really slamming into me. Then he put his arms around my chest and gently pulled in and out. He kissed my neck, rubbed my dick, and rubbed my nipple. I went cross-eyed for a minute I think. Brett went back to pounding me again, but this time while still rubbing my dick and nipple. Then he put his hands on my shoulders and pounded me some more. Finally, he collapsed backward, sprawled on the floor. Since he was still hard, I knew he hadn't come, so I sat on him. Brett looked up at me, exhausted. But he still started thrusting up into me while I thrust myself down onto him. That worked for a few minutes until my back started to hurt. So I got up and lay down on the table. Brett quickly joined me. He pushed my legs forward and then thrust himself into my ass once again. This time he would pull all the way out and then forward all the way into me, and then all the way out and in again. Brett watched himself going in and out for a while, then up at me. He smiled at me and I smiled back. "This is great." He said. Then he went back to watching himself going in and out of me. I felt myself reaching the point where I was going to come. Brett beat me to it though. He started ramming into me really hard and really fast, then he pulled out of me and shot his load all over my belly. I rubbed my dick using his semen and in about five seconds I came as well, all over my face and chest. Brett collapsed on top of me and licked the come off my face before kissing me and rubbing his naked body against me. "Show-off…" He said jokingly. He was always amazed with how far I could shoot. I'll even admit, I was rather proud of my dick's ability to blast a load up over my head when I was really turned on. It made for messy clean-up situations, but it felt like a million damn dollars. Another nice thing about being on our own is that even after we had sex, we laid out there on that table for about a half hour. We just held each other and neither one really felt like letting go. Brett kept kissing and hugging me, and I kept letting him. So often after doing it it's a race to see who can get dressed the fastest and pretend that we hadn't just been all over each other a minute before. I really enjoyed the change of pace, and Brett was making me feel so good. I swear, he must have kissed my neck for five minutes. It just about made me feel like I was going to come again. But, all good things must end, and we eventually gathered up our clothes and made our way into the house. We had managed to get our semen just about everywhere, which made clean-up take a little longer than the usual quick shower. But we eventually got ourselves cleaned up and presentable. About ten o'clock or so, dad got back. "Well, I take it that you boys had fun while I was out." Dad said, looking at me oddly. Staring might be a better word. "Your mother's going to kill you when see sees that." I gave dad a quizzical look, then Brett started to snort, trying not to laugh. "What are you laughing about, Brett? She's going to kill you too." Dad said, trying to contain his own laughter. "What? What is it?" I asked. Then Brett really started laughing. "Maybe I shouldn't have played vacuum cleaner on your neck." Brett said, now laughing openly. I stood up and found the nearest mirror, and saw that the side of my neck right under my ear was all red and puffy. "You idiot! You gave me a hickey!" I said, not really angry, but concerned none-the-less. "Well, no need to ask what you did while I was away." Dad said. "You know, I thought that you'd be happy to have a few hours on your own up here. I figured you could be trusted to not mention it to your mothers." "Yeah." We both replied. "We don't have to go to bed right now, let's play cards." Dad suggested. We ended up playing poker for a little while, Brett didn't realize that dad could count cards. He also didn't realize that he taught me how to do it on one of these trips to the cabin. So he ended up getting slaughtered, and slaughtered quite badly. Once he figured out that he was playing with two cheaters, he decided that we should play another game. Dad suggested war, since there was no way to cheat once the cards were dealt. Brett insisted that he get to deal… As if dad or I would ever set the deck over a silly game of war! (We would, by the way…) As Brett dealt, dad said, "You know, I'm glad we've had this time together, boys." "Me too." I said, sorting my cards into a neat pile. Brett agreed. "You know, when I first started to figure out what you boys were doing, I have to admit, I was angry." Dad said as he laid down his first card. "You were?" Brett asked as he won the first hand. "Not so much at Billy as I was at you." Dad said looking at Brett. Brett actually looked a little scared when he said that. "You… you were?" Brett stammered, almost choking on his words. "You remember the night of the Christmas party? You were sick. There we sat with a houseful of people and Billy disappears for an hour. After kissing a girl, none-the-less! Now I had Billy pretty much figured out by then. I knew he wasn't going to be bringing home a lot of girlfriends, if you know what I mean. But you were a surprise. If you want to know the truth, you kind of annoyed me for the longest time. When you punched Billy on his birthday that time, I was going to tell you to keep your ass out of my house forever." "I remember that!" Brett said. "He called me a bastard and I punched him in the mouth. I forgot he had braces and he ended up bleeding all over the place." "Yeah, that was real thoughtful of you." I said sarcastically. The first round had ended and Brett had won the most cards. We started the second round. "Well here you had gone and punched my kid and I was going to give you a good kick in the ass. I figured you were a spoiled little monster and I was going to set you straight. And I walk out to find you, and there you are on the steps crying your damn eyes out. Now how am I supposed to do anything if you're doing that?" "You sat down beside me and told me to get a hold of myself." Brett laughed. "Then you told me I was going to walk back into that building and get my stuff or you were going to leave it there. I really hated you for that." "But you did it. You walked in there and faced what you did. You showed me something when you did that. And then that party came and Billy took the time to go all the way over there to see you. I knew then that you two had something going on between you. Everything that happened afterward just confirmed what I suspected." "And you just accepted it?" Brett said, losing his fourth hand in a row. "Hell no." Dad laughed. "I tried, but I couldn't do it. I just kept getting angrier and angrier about it. Didn't Billy ever tell you what happened the night before I had the stroke?" "You slapped him." Brett said. "But I called you an asshole, I deserved it." I chimed in. "No you didn't." Dad quickly replied. "Well, I tried to talk with you at Mr. Nicholson's that one time, but I think I just made things worse. I didn't want you to think that I was mad at you for being who you are, but I didn't want you to rush out and do something you might regret. I think I just ended up messing up your head because the next thing I knew you were getting into all kinds of trouble at school." "So that explains why you were so fucked up when I got back from New York!" Brett said. "Blathering on about not knowing what love was and how you were still a kid and stuff." "Well that was my fault, boys. I don't know what I was trying to accomplish there, but I just ended up getting you all worked up and then I hauled off and slapped you. If I hadn't had that stroke… Well, let's say it gave me time to think. It changed the way I look at life, and realize how truly short it is. It made me realize how foolish I'd be if I held it against you. It would make me just like my father. And I would hope that I could be better than that." "You are, Mr. Roberts." Brett said, the game had long ago stopped. "You know what, You're… You know, in a lot of ways, you're more my dad than the asshole is. You're more of a parent than my mom is, to tell you the truth. And I know you're going to say that you're not, but you are. You listen to me. You've talked to me about shit I could never even tell Billy. Mr. Roberts… You may not be my father, but you are my dad." For a minute, I swear, for a fraction of a second, I thought my dad was actually going to cry. He didn't, but I had never seen him so touched by something that someone said. All he did was put his hand on Brett's shoulder and say, "I'd be proud to call you my son." Well, dad might not have cried, but I sure as hell did. "Billy!" Dad said softly. "What's wrong?" "Nothing." I said, quickly wiping my eyes. "I just… You know." "I know." Dad said smiling. It was cool and quiet in the cabin that night. The days events had left me totally wasted. I could hear the wind blowing gently outside. I had no trouble falling to sleep, but something woke me up. I quickly realized that I had woken myself up because I was having one of those dreams again. The one where I am going to the bathroom. I hadn't stopped myself quite in time because there was a little bit of wetness on my blanket. "Shit! Not again," I cursed my stupid bladder. I grabbed a pair of boxers and intended to head to the bathroom. I blinked a few times to adjust to the light outside my room. I was surprised that dad was sitting in the living room with the television turned on. I wasn't worried too much about walking to the bathroom buck naked. Who was going to care? Brett had certainly seen it all before, and dad had too. Of course, the last time dad had seen me naked I was about eight inches shorter, or two inches, depending on your point-of-view. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the lights. I just about went blind. It took a minute to adjust to the brightness. When I could finally see, I cleaned myself off and then looked at myself in the full-length mirror on the wall. There was Billy Roberts, staring right back at me. Not-too bad, still a little goofy looking. The braces were gone now. The hair still has the slightest hint that I used to be blond. If I went out in the sun for a while, it would lighten up. I'm still the only guy I know with green eyes, though I know a few girls who have them. I guess it's not so bad. Brett says he likes them. When I got contacts, I made sure that they were the kind that you could still see that they were green. Some things had changed a lot over the years. My hand still has the scars from when I punched that mirror. The scars weren't as bad as Dustin's were sure to be. To be honest, I hadn't seen his wrists since his incident. They were bandaged at the hospital and he was wearing long sleeves when we saw visited him at his new school. I rubbed my chin a little bit. I wouldn't need to shave for a while, but I might do it anyway. One problem with being naturally a pretty hairless guy is that I would probably be thirty before I would be able to grow a beard. Brett hadn't shaved for a day and he was already starting to look rugged. I mean, I even keep my hair trimmed down there and he lets it go. Sure he turns me on like crazy, but I couldn't do that myself. It's just my way. I slipped on the boxers I had brought along and headed out to the living room. Sure enough, dad had the tv on another damn western. Now I admit it, they've started to grow on me, but only because I think Clint Eastwood is great. It looked like dad had fallen asleep again. I walked up to the screen and turned it off. "I'm watching that." I chuckled. Some things never change. I walked up to his chair and saw that he had gone right back to sleep. I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, his beard tickling my chin. "Goodnight dad, I love you." I whispered. "I love you too, boy." I stopped and looked back at dad. He was smiling back at me. "Come here for a minute, Billy." He said. I walked back to him and kneeled down next to him. "Billy, I just wanted to tell you… I love you, boy. I'm proud of you." "I know." I said, smiling in spite of myself. "Look at you… You're all grown up now. So smart… You'll be top of your class. But even if you're not, you know I'm still going to be proud of you." "I'm going to be though. I'm going to make you prouder than ever." I said. "Billy, I wouldn't love you any more if you were President or any less if you were a bum. No matter what you do with your life, you're always going to be my little boy. Always remember that Billy. Always… No matter what, I'm proud to be your father, and I'll always love you." I gave him the biggest hug I've ever given him, and didn't feel awkward that I was standing there in a pair of old boxers. I had to wipe my eyes while I was hugging him, since I didn't want him to see me cry again. "Alright, you better get to bed. We've got a busy day tomorrow." "Okay." I said. "Oh, and Billy…" "Yeah?" I said. "I'm sorry I never told you I knew about you." "I'm not." I said. "It would have just made things weird. Life is full of ups and downs I guess." "I reckon so…" I walked back up to my room. I slipped under the covers and quickly fell into a deep, happy sleep. This had been one of the very best days that I could ever remember. Even if sometimes I got angry. Even if I could act like a jerk sometimes. Even if I was gay, my dad accepted me and loved me. He was proud of me. And I knew that he was always going to love me and be proud of me. I am George Roberts' little boy, and I'm proud of it. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x First of all, sorry for the delay. I hope it was worth the wait. You'll have to forgive me, these part-ending chapters are too important to just rush right through, especially this one. This chapter brings us to the last jumping off point before the final part of the story. That means if you've had enough of these guys you have the happy ending right there. I won't be mad if you do that. I know what it's like to wait and wait for chapters. So you won't have the whole story if you jump off now, but you'll leave hopefully feeling satisfied. I have a lot to say here... but I'm not sure how to say it. First, I want to say thinks to everyone who's been supporting this story. Thanks to nifty for putting it online. Thanks to the members of the squirrelwriter yahoo group! And thanks to everyone who had a hand in either encouraging, writing to say what you thought of the story, helping in many many ways. I love to hear from you, and I appreciate your comments so much! Let's talk about this chapter in specific first. I wonder who will figure out the significance of the final section of this part? I have intelligent readers, so I'm sure that many of you will see what I did there. Brett's gone through some interesting changes through the course of the story, but one thing is for sure... He still can manipulate when he wants to! A car... I guess Dr. Reilly didn't really learn much from her mistakes either. You know, one of the things I'm very proud of about this story is how happy I am that the characters have developed the way they have. From Dustin falling apart to Billy becoming stronger, no one is the same as they were back in the beginning. Even the way they have sex has changed. It's something that I'm proud of. So... where do we go from here? Well... First of all, I need a break. You know how it works by now. I need to recharge the writing batteries. Then some time in the next few months I'll get the story put together. Part Six is the end of the story. After Part Six, the story is over. No sequels, no prequels. I'm retiring the characters forever. But don't worry, you'll be happy with how it all ends up, I think. After that, I'll move on to a new story and new characters. I don't know how I'm going to ever match what I did here, but I'm not going to try. I'm not going to compare everything I do to WAR. I'm proud of this story. It's not a straight drama. It's not an adventure, or a mystery, or a comedy. It's just a story. Sometimes it's sad, sometimes it's happy. Sometimes it's very serious, but there are funny moments as well. It's not a sex story, but it doesn't hide the fact that sex is going on. The main characters are gay, but it's not a story about being gay. I guess it's just a story about life. Okay, I'm done. I'm going to give you some email addresses and a group you can join. I'd be real happy to hear from you or have you join the yahoo group! I really want to know what you've thought of the story thus far! Here's the yahoo group address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/squirrelwriter Here's the email addresses: vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com or jkwsquirrel@ yahoo.com Once again, thanks a lot for reading! See you next time!