Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 23:56:28 -0500 From: T.K. Walters Subject: All For Him, Chapter Seven Hello, before you read the chapter below, I wanted to give a few character profiles. I'll be adding on every now and then, probably whenever a major character comes into the picture. ********** CHARACTER PROFILES Name: Nick Atkinson Birthday: January 7 Astrological Sign: Capricorn Blood Type: O Favorite Color: Purple Birthstone: Garnet Starstone: Onyx Hobby: Listening to music Favorite Food: Tiramisu Least Favorite Food: Liver Favorite Subject: Business/Computer Classes Worst Subject: Math Has Trouble With: Insecurities Strong Point: Romantic -- Name: Pete Atkinson Birthday: August 18 Astrological Sign: Leo Blood Type: B Favorite Color: Gold Birthstone: Peridot Starstone: Ruby Hobby: Swimming Favorite Food: Risotto Least Favorite Food: Hotdogs Favorite Subject: Physical Education Worst Subject: Literature Has Trouble With: Monogamy Strong Point: Sex -- Name: Jake Collins Birthday: July 9 Astrological Sign: Cancer Blood Type: A Favorite Color: Silver Birthstone: Ruby Starstone: Pearl Hobby: Guitar/Music Favorite Food: Burgers/Deli meats Least Favorite Food: Milk Favorite Subject: Music Worst Subject: Math Has Trouble With: Keeping focus on anything Strong Point: Loyalty ********** Chapter Seven "Are you sure that you wanna go?" Pete asked. "It's just, you've been so reluctant. I don't want you to go if you feel like you'll be uncomfortable at all." I raised my eyebrow. "Okay!" Pete said, raising his arms in defeat. "Its true, I want you to go. But just because I want you to, doesn't mean you have to. Remember, its always you're choice whether or not we do anything." "And my choice is to go," I lied. Truthfully, I'm just going because Pete wanted to, so bad. I gave in after he had mentioned it earlier this morning, so late this afternoon, I told him I'd accompany him the orgy. "Anyways, it's better than just sitting on my ass every night." I said. I leaned forward to kiss him but stopped when a thought came to me. "Which I might not be able to do after it." Pete laughed and shoved me slightly. "Dork. The party's the day before Jake's so, we might have to get ready for his party a little earlier than planned. In actuality, I didn't think that you'd say yes. I thought that you wouldn't be into it." `I'm not,' I thought, making sure that none of our body parts were touching while I said it. `I'm just doing this to please you.' __________ Three days until the party, and I needed to get out of the house. Things weren't as hectic as they were before. The cake was ordered, the decorations bought, the presents securely checked and rechecked, and the entertainment--tons of booze and music--was taken care of by Pete and his friends. All in all, I thought that the party was gonna go great, so I decided to go see the little man at his house. After Pete had dropped me off in the city, in front of Jake's dad's apartment building, I had said goodbye to him and told him that I would sleep over. "Just make sure you call Mom and Dad tonight on your cell," Pete said from inside his car. He had my window opened and was talking to me through it as I stood alone on the pavement of the twelve story building. "If you don't call, they'll get worried." "Yeah, yeah," I said, exasperated. I was still perturbed by that, but tried my hardest not to show any emotion. "Anyway, are you gonna be fine spending the night alone?" "Yeah, I mean, if I get lonely I'll have Katie come over," he said. "I haven't spent that much time with her lately and I think we're in a fight." "You don't know?" "No, I've been spending most of my time with you, Kiddo," Pete said, turning on the guilt switch. "Take her out here in the city," I said. "She'll like it." "I just might do that," Pete answered before saying goodbye and driving off in the direction of the interstate. Staring up, I couldn't remember a time where I wasn't awed by the height of a building taller than 50 feet above ground. I've always lived in suburbia so being in a city was always an adjustment for me. Jed, the doorman, opened to door for me as soon as I dropped my head down and looked at him. I'm sure that he knew who I was since I've spent countless of times going to and from these doors. At the door of Jake's apartment, a quaint flat on floor 7, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to come get it. Jake lived with his father since his parents had had a divorce and his younger brother lives with his mother outside of the city, near where Pete and I live. I heard noise permeating the door, so they probably had company over, which never stopped me from coming over. Mr. Collins came to the door. He seemed a bit flustered as he opened it and then said, "Nick, thank god you're here. I need your help." Next thing I knew, he had swept me into a house full of relatives. "Please, you and Jake have to do something about them. I don't have the heart to do it all. If they ask me one more time about getting back together with Vicky, I'll kill myself!" Vicky was Mrs. Collins. She had wanted to keep Mr. Collin's name since the divorce had ended on relatively good terms. I think they were better as friends than as husband and wife. Jake agrees with me, too. "Alright, but this is the last time, Mr. Collins! The last time you did this, I almost pulled my hair out!" "You don't think I want to?!" he asked. He was a completely broken man when his family gets together with his ex-wife's family. Their families were family-friends way before Gary (Mr. Collins) and Vicky was born and when they were born, they knew that their children would end up marrying each other, binding the family for the first time by blood. It seems that the only good thing to come out of the marriage was a friendship and two great children. "Please, Nick? Just let me get out of the house for two hours? I need to get some fresh air before I suffocate from their nagging!" I nodded and then he reached out and hugged me. "Thank you. I promise, you won't regret this." I rolled my eyes and then watched as Mr. Collins ran out the door, his tail wagging between his legs. "Coward!" I cried. Smiling, I turned to find Jake walking toward me with his two cousins following along with him. The two were three-year-old and six-year-old boys. They were almost heel-to-toe with Jake. I could see that they admired him, very much so. "He left?" Jake asked; his inflection on the last word. I grasped the back of his neck and put our foreheads together. "What do you think?" I tried to put as much exasperation in my voice that I could muster. "EW!" the smaller cousin said. "You look like you were about to kiss him!" Jake laughed and then picked him up, "Would it matter if I did?" Then, to prove his point, he kissed the boy in his arms on the cheek. He put the boy back onto his feet, and him and his brother ran out of the hallway squealing as Jake acted like he was about to chase them. Instead, he turned to me and flashed his pearly whites. "Hey, what are you doing here?" "Well," I said, "I thought that we'd be able to go for a movie and then a bite, but it seems you're preoccupied." "Yeah, they just had to drop off presents," Jake said. "Like they couldn't wait two days?" "I'm here for the day," I told him. "Is that okay? I mean, I can get Pete to pick me up." "No!" he cried. "Stay, please. My Aunt Margaret and Uncle Rick are in the other room with Aunt Ingrid and Uncle Victor. They're practically planning out how Dad should get back together with Mom. I don't even know why they try; they know that Mom's dating someone." "Really? You didn't tell me that. Cool guy?" "Very," he answered as he led me out of the narrow hallway that opened into the living room. "He's a pediatrician, so Mom's fallen for him already. She just loves men who love kids." I was just about to say that I do too but caught myself. Instead, I just said, "That's good. Your mom deserves someone special, even if it can't be your father." When we got inside of the living room, everyone seemed to call out to me. "Nick, what're you doing here, son?" Uncle Victor said. I didn't like the fact that he always seemed to call every guy that was mine or Jake's age `son' but I wasn't the one to say it. "I was wondering if I could take the birthday boy away from you good people, but seeing as you people are nice enough to remember me, I could wait a while. I mean, what's two more hours?" I was far away from all of them so they couldn't hear the last sentence. But Aunt Margaret noticed my lips still moving. "Pardon me?" "Oh, nothing, Auntie," Jake said to her. "He was just saying how glad he is when Jimmy and Jamie are over." Then Jake flashed her a smile. We giggled all the way to his room where we brought out a few board games for Jimmy and Jamie to play with and put in a movie for the grown-ups. Jake and I decided to join the two little kids on the floor of Jake's room and play Taboo. We soon learned that the kids didn't have a big vocabulary so we gave them paper and a few markers and color pencils to play with on the floor. They had fun. Meanwhile, Jake and I lounged on the bed, both of us wearing ear phones to the same stereo, and just listened to Snow Patrol, Brand New (a CD he borrowed from me), Sugarcult, and Calico Drive. The latter was a new band from Canada. I had gotten into them by way of my friend Gabby when she mentioned something about the one of the guys being gay. And you know I have to show my pride in my culture. When we got through the first three CDs, Aunt Ingrid came into the room. I patted Jake's chest to get his attention-he had his eyes closed and was laid about. He immediately took the things off and then he asked, "Yes, Auntie? Is everything alright?" "Everything is fine, Dear. It's just we think it's time we left. We still need to get to your mother's house." `To try and convince her the same thing you didn't to Mr. Collins,' I thought. "Okay, Auntie. I'll tell Dad you left." She smiled and then took the boys out of the room. "I bet your father would love that!" "You know it," Jake said before he put the ear phones back on. He had just closed his eyes again when I began to watch him. I had been doing it for a while now, just staring at him while he listened to whatever went through one of my ears and out the other. He appeared content with just staying in one spot. I wasn't; I wanted to talk to him. I patted his chest, again. Jake pulled off the ear phones and then asked, "What?" "So, Pete invited me to go with him to a party," I said. I hesitated on telling him more, but knew that sooner or later, I'd tell him so I relayed the rest. "It's a sex party." I avoided his eyes, afraid of what he might think; mostly of me, rather than Pete. But even though I couldn't see him, I still felt his eyes cutting into me. "You're gonna go," he said, finally breaking the silence. I met his eyes and noticed them closed. Ear phones back on, he seemed quite nonchalant about the whole thing. Knowing that one like Jake could be this very way when it comes to sex, I was tempted to just say yes and then end the subject but he knows me and something like this isn't something I take lightly, as you can see. So why is he acting like this? "Yes," I said. "I told him that I'd come with." I waited; waited for just one small reaction. Maybe a small jerk, or at least an open glance, but he did nothing of the sort. He must've known that his silence irked me. How could he not? My foot rhythmically shook in an uncontrollable manner. I really got tired of this act, so I nudged him. Jake immediately opened up, and took off his head phones. "What?" he asked. "What do you want me to say?" "I don't know!" I cried. "I don't! I don't even know why I told you. I tried not to. I weighed the pros and cons. There was a whole hour spent debating whether or not I should be weighing the pros and cons. And then things started to spin and my head hurt and I wondered what you'd think. And . . . and . . ." I sighed, my breath taken out of me. "And what they would think." Jake grabbed my hand and started to play with my fingers, making my fingernails poke into the balls of his digits. "Feel better?" he asked, busily tapping my fingers. "Now, who then?" "Huh?" I asked, dazed from the way he touched me. It's not like he's never done this before, but this was the first time that I noticed it or had it affect me in this way. "What who would think?" Jake asked. "Oh," I started. Instead of answering him right away, I bade my time and just watched his fingers twirl in mine. He got fed up with it very fast. "Nick, tell me!" he said, stopping his movements to yell at me. He also started back to it quickly. Biting my lips, I said, "The people at the party." "Why do you care what they think?" Jake asked. "Besides, would you really think that Pete would bring you to a party where they would do that? Listen, Pete knows you better than you think, so trust me when I tell you that he wouldn't take you anywhere that you would feel judged in." "That's true," I said, tilting my head and understanding this fact. "But that still doesn't make me any more comfortable with the situation." "Then, two days ago, you should've told him that," he said. "I couldn't!" I exclaimed, getting slightly peeved. "Pete's done too much for me. This is like the first thing he's asked from me and I tell him no? How ungrateful would I sound? And--wait a minute." A thought hit me and I hesitated my rant. "How the hell do you know I answered him two days ago? I never told you." "Oh, uh, well," Jake stated, his body inching toward the other side of the bed. "`Oh, uh, well' nothing!" I cried and jumped after him. "You've talked to him, you little shit!" I sprung up on him and started smacking him around with the pillow, just hard enough to want me off but not hard enough to actually hurt. It was a pillow for gods sake! "Alright! Alright!" Jake yelled, grabbing the feather filled sack. "So he told me." "And that's why you didn't act surprised," I realized. "Basically," he confirmed. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?" "Why didn't you tell me until now?" he asked. Jake acted hurt, but I knew the little fucker was faking it. "Oh, don't give me that shit!" I cried. "Why didn't you come to me when Pete told you about it?" I heard the lump at the back of his throat, and his eyes glittered with held back tears. I seriously thought that he was hurt and he would begin to cry when I remembered that he, like me, has used this trick before. "Knock it off!" "Oh, alright!" he said in a gruff. "Pete said it was a secret, so I kept it to myself." I was about to protest when I realized that he did the same thing I did. Though Jake is my best friend, sharing brotherly information is not something one does. I expect him not to tell me any secrets about him and his brother, John. And as close as I am to Pete, Jake is almost as close, minus the sex parts. At least, of all I know. "Is that all he told you?" I asked, worried that Pete might of leaked out private information. "Yeah, that's it," he said. Jake seemed to be in a middle of a pause, like he wanted to tell me more, but couldn't. I, myself, know that pause very well. "He also asked me if I wanted to go with you guys." "WHAT?!" I screamed. "Calm down, doofus," Jake said. "I told him that I won't go unless you're going." "Then that means you're committed now." "Eh," he said, brushing off the comment. "What do I care?" "But why would Pete ask you?" I asked. "I mean, not that you're not bad looking. It's just, he told you that there would be some weird stuff going on, right?" "Like what?" he milked. "Um, like the fact that some people might be going with people who are of, um, the same sex?" "Oh, the watches vs. necklaces thing. Again, what do I care?" "And," I asked, hesitantly. "Which on will you choose from?" With a glint in his eye, he finally looked at me. The blasé expression and air that he had was dissipated and what was left was a smile and interest. "My, my," he said, taking the overtone and accent of his homeland Britannia, "are you asking me, good sir, if I am a sodomite?" Caught in front of that proverbial train, I gulped. "Are you asking me if I think about men late at night? When my windows are close? When my doors are locked? Dost thou ask if I touch myself, wondering if my fellow man is touching himself in accompaniment? Yea, if thee do. Nay, if thee dost not. Now, do ye?" Jake, his eyes smoldering and his voice carrying a sultry tone, climbed me, mounting my stomach. His hands on both my shoulders, his breath near my lips. "Do ye? In late bitter night, covers hiding playful sin, do ye think of man, not of woman? When ye lick thy lips, dost thou wish a firm and masculine hand touches thee?" I found myself hard, my dick sneaking up my pants and laying rest on my pubes. Then it almost shrank when I heard a door slam. "Shit, your dad's home!" I expected him to crawl off me in a hurry, but he did the exact opposite. Coming closer next to my ear, he whispered, "Yea, noise. Thus, I'll be brief." "What?! Get off before he comes here!" Almost going into shock because of it, Jake shoved his hand down my pants, touching my throbbing dick. "Oh, happy dagger! This is thy sheath." I moaned and leaked onto his fiddling fingers. "Jake?" Mr. Collins called out from the other side of the door. "Is anyone there with you?" Quickly pulling his hand out, Jake wiped his precum laced finger across my lips, and then on his. "There rust and let me die." __________ I avoided Jake's eyes as we moved through the kitchen, working together to fix dinner. Mr. Collins offered to make it for us, but after what had happened in the room, I knew that I couldn't be alone with Jake for very long else I delve in too deeply about what had happened. Mr. Collins did not see anything incriminating, nor did he see any signs of it when we came out of the room. Since we were both novice cooks, we decided to make the fool proof dinner: pasta. As Jake placed the pot of water on the stove and cranking it up high, I grabbed the risen dough from the large bowl I put it in, placed it on the floured table, and began kneading it for the third and final time. Once the water began to boil, Jake added salt and then left it to itself for a few seconds to look over my shoulder and see what I was doing. I would've been fine with him hovering over me, but when he rested his chin on my shoulder, I breathed deeply. "What?" he asked. "Uh-um," I stuttered. "Could you h-hand me th-th-the baking sheet?" Jake's jaw released me from the pressure of flesh, but the scent of his cologne lingered in my nostrils. When I got the baking sheet, I placed the dough in it and molded to the shape of the rectangle. "Pestle and mortar?" I asked. Jake squat down next to one of the lower cabinets, the one near my leg, and pulled out a marble-looking bowl and a sort of six inch, thick piece of rock, same as the bowl; if you didn't know what a mortar and pestle was. Running to the mini garden at the windowsill next to the French doors that opened into the balcony, I quickly snipped four sticks of rosemary and threw them into the bowl, along with four cloves of garlic. I began attacking it with the pestle, taking out my frustration on the food. When it was almost a pulp, I grabbed the olive oil and doused the whole thing with at least three-fourths of a cup full and a few pinches of salt. "Calm down, Dad's looking at you like you've gone insane," Jake said. I looked up, as I was staring down at the mortar for the past four minutes. Mr. Collins raised an eyebrow before returning to the book he was reading. I blushed and went back to work. I let the mixture combine while I pushed holes into the dough, which was rising quite fast. Using the thick branches of the rosemary, I squeezed the oil mixture onto the bread until it was glittering with tiny pools of greenish-amber and tiny flecks of green from the herb. "Looks great," Jake said as he took it into the oven. "Thanks," I said, moving on to the next item, when I realized that Jake had already finished his half. Desert was the next thing we needed to make, and I tackled this one. Since we had a very traditional Italian night, I decided to do something very American: a sundae. Except this sundae is taken to the extreme. I smiled as I asked, "Do you guys happen to have a blowtorch?" __________ After an uncomfortably silent dinner, of which Mr. Collins noted on soon as we finished dessert, Jake and I began getting ready for bed. As I returned from brushing my teeth, I saw that Jake had pulled out a sleeping bag and began making his place in it. This was something that pained me. We've never had a reason to use a sleeping bag when we spend the night at each other's houses. We sleep in the same bed, or we don't sleep at all. That was our rule. Aloud, I whispered, "Well, if he wants to have it like that . . ." Taking off the large quilt off the bed, I threw it next to Jake, who immediately sat up from half slumber. I threw my pillow down there too, and soon settled down next to a shocked Jake. His mouth was caught in a silent gasp, so I pushed it closed. "Don't do that, you look like you belong in a mental institution," I laughed. It was sort of an inside joke as most of the people in our group have either been threatened with being put into an asylum or has already been in one. "Ha-ha," he said, sardonically. "Anyway, what are you doing down here? I thought you were mad at me." "When have I ever been mad at you?" I asked in a whisper, avoiding his eyes again. "See?" he pointed out. "You haven't been able to look at me all night. Which is why I didn't just wanna come out and tell you that . . . that I . . ." His voice grew pathetic, and I could hear a true lump in there growing substantially. He meant it this time. "`That' . . . what?" I asked, trying to help him. "I didn't wanna come out and tell you that I kinda . . . sorta . . . might be attracted to guys than girls," he said, finally letting out a sigh. Control was lost right then, and Jake's demeanor changed. No longer was he the same composed person he is around others, but like an open wound, he was ready for either more pain or anything to help heal him. I decided on the latter. "So, now that you've told me," I started, "what do you expect me to say? That I knew? Because I didn't. That I reject you for it? Because I don't. That what we've said before, about us being so much alike, is true? Because it is." "What do we do now?" Jake asked, unflinching from the sudden realization as much as I did earlier. "What can we do? I mean, we're already in bed," I said, chuckling at the irony. "Let's just go to sleep." Jake shrugged and pulled the quilt over his body. My quilt was actually under me, so I tried to snuggle close to him and he opened it up and let me in. I used his body heat to warm me and soon soft snoring could be heard from both our lips. ********** To Be Continued Send all thoughts, critiques, or grammar changes to the address above. Thanks for taking the time to read this story. I know it's not exactly the best story ever, but I'm trying. I do get points for that, right? Well, I hope you aren't too harsh. And again, thanks. -MKP