Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 02:00:00 -0700 From: John Henry Subject: Growing Up Charlie Chapter 20 (Gay/Incest) DONATION: Nifty is a not-for-profit organization that heavily relies on our donations to keep the site free and accessible. Your donations pay for web hosting fees and other day-to-day activities for the wonderful staff of editors/publishers. You can donate on the website at http://donate.nifty.org/ Every little bit counts. DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction, and contains explicit, sexual content involving adults over the age of 21 and minors under the age of 16, and scenes of incest involving step-parents/step-children. If viewing this material is illegal where you live, OR you're a minor under the age of 18, please stop reading this. If you're not sure about this legatilty, please stop reading until you have looked into your own, local laws. Any likeness or similarity between persons, places, products or concepts are purely coincidental. If you would like to leave any positive feedback, please let me know. Thank you. Chapter 20 "He what?!" Rick yelled into the phone. Will had called his co-parent while Charlie was in the restroom. Will took Charlie out to lunch then ice cream. Their next stop was the zoo. Will explained Charlie's suspension and the circumstances that led to it. Rick was livid. "He did the right thing, Rick," Will said calmly, as if talking about the weather. "The world has too many bullies in it. This kid wasn't going to stop until he was put in his place. Luckily, Charlie was the one to do it." "And you just let it happen?" Rick snapped. Will chuckled and said, "I wasn't even there, Rick, so I didn't let anything happen. However, it was a good thing that Charlie called me. That principal was looking to railroad him." "He hasn't been in your care for 24 hours and he's already fighting!" Rick's attitude reminded Will of their ex-wife. Will saw Charlie walking towards him and said, "We'll have to finish this conversation later." He hung up before Rick could respond. Charlie took his seat and asked, "Was that my dad?" "Yes," Will said. "I let him know what happened." "He's mad isn't he?" "Yes, he is." Will watched as Charlie dropped his head in shame and distress. "He's worried about you," Will added, "but he's very bad at showing it right now." "I'm in trouble again, aren't I?' Charlie was unable to disguise the pain he felt and started to tear up. Will stood and, uncharacteristically, picked Charlie up and held him. Charlie wrapped his arms around Will and cried. A waitress came over to see if everything was alright, and Will assured her that everything was fine, as he handed her the money for the bill, plus a sizable tip. Will didn't set Charlie down until the boy was ready. He helped Charlie clean his face and straighten his clothing. They got into the car and headed to the zoo. They got back to Will's around five. Billy and Ry were already at the house and finishing their homework. Will had stopped and grabbed a couple of pizzas for dinner, which was greatly accepted by the teens. Before heading home, Will told Charlie that it was his choice to tell his brothers about the suspension. Charlie decided to wait till his cuddle session with Ry to mention it, not wanting to rehash everything after a nice day looking at animals. "Oh, Uncle Will," Charlie said, as he took a couple slices, "Can my friend David stay the night Friday?" Will caught himself before mentioning the fight and asked, "He was the boy I saw you with earlier?" "Yeah. It's been a long time since I've had a friend over," Charlie added, hoping to add weight to his request. "I'll think about it," Will said. "You're already sharing a bed with Ry, so I don't know if there's room." "Okay," Charlie said, feeling a little disappointed. At bedtime, Charlie explained the fight and suspension to Ry, who predictably blew up. He called out to Billy, who came in still brushing his teeth. Billy nearly choked when he heard of their dad's reaction. He mentioned how Rick had once been happy that Charlie punched a bully for making homophobic remarks when Charlie was in the first grade. He left to clear his mouth, and when Billy returned, he said, "What the fuck has gotten into Dad?" "Language," Will said, causing Billy to jump. "Your dad has gone through a lot in the last few years, so you need to give him a break." "He hasn't been giving Charlie a break," Ry pointed out. "Which is why the three of you are here," Will said. "Your dad is burnt out, so we're giving him some time to get his act together." "More like pulling his head out of his ass," Billy said. "Last warning," Will told his son. Billy hugged his brothers, which shocked Ry, before heading to bed. Will said good night, as he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. Ry held Charlie, as they laid on their sides, facing each other. Charlie had his face buried into his brother's chest. Ry rubbed Charlie's back, trying desperately not to remember his dream. It was difficult since he was keenly aware of how right it felt holding Charlie. Ry turned his head down to kiss Charlie on the head, deciding that they needed to shift to a better spooning position. As he was moving in for the kiss, Charlie decided to kiss Ry on the cheek to thank him for always being there for him. It was unfortunately too dark for either to see what they were intending but quickly discovered it when their lips met. Needless to say, they were both shocked. "Sorry," They said to the other. Both of their eyes were wide. Charlie felt weirded out. It reminded him of when Justin first kissed him. Ry was also weirded out. However, it reminded him of the dream. Charlie moved away from Ry and turned his back to his brother. Ry made to spoon Charlie, but he thought better of it and rolled the other way. Charlie laid awake wondering if Ry was trying to be intimate with him like Justin was. He loved Ry with all his heart, but Ry was his brother just as much as Billy was. Yes, Ry was adopted, Charlie thought, but brothers don't do that to each other...don't they? Ry also couldn't sleep. He was afraid that, if he closed his eyes, he'd see their son again and see his husband next to him. Ry's heart pounded in his chest, as he felt his dick get hard. He didn't like the implication behind that bodily function. He didn't like that the thought of being married and having kids with Charlie aroused him. Of all the fantasies he tried to get erect to, it was the very fantasy he wanted to forget that turned him on the most...and it scared the living hell out of him. Will took Charlie to school the next day. He wanted to make sure that Principal Caldwell remembered Charlie's and Joey's punishments correctly. Charlie was escorted to a small room with a single desk and chair. There were no decorations on the walls, with only a clock and a single window in the door that looked out into the main office. Principal Caldwell brought Charlie's class work for the day and explained that Charlie was to remain quiet, do his work and that he'd be checked out throughout the day. He was allowed to use the restroom but wasn't to abuse it or face further punishment. Charlie would also be brought his lunch and could not go to recess. "And what about Joey Bell?" Will asked. "His father pulled him from the school for a week," Principal Caldwell hastily replied. "Apparently, Mr. Bell was not going to let Joey work as part of his punishment, as you suggested, so the only other option was to give him out of school suspension." "I see," Will said. He wasn't sure if it was truly a punishment or not. Having briefly dealt with the bully's father, Will assumed that Joey would've been better off cleaning toilets; however, taking Joey from the school might leave the impression that he was being rewarded for his behavior by not having to go to school. Once satisfied, Will told Charlie that he would pick him up after school, and he left the boy to his punishment. At first, Charlie liked the solitude. He started on his school work and began with math. He read the instructions several times but couldn't make heads nor tails of it, so he put it aside. The next subject he tried was his spelling list. He was to write his twenty words fifty times each. Charlie wrote out the first three words fifty times before his hand started to hurt. He set down his pencil and looked at the clock. Sixteen minutes had passed since Will left, leaving almost six more hours before he could go home. "Fuck," Charlie whispered to himself, as he grabbed his pencil. The day dragged by. He managed to finish his work about an hour before school was out. He was given a book to read for the remaining hour, but he couldn't get into it. Instead he drew some cartoons and doodled. "Time's up," Principal Caldwell said, just before the bell rang. Charlie grabbed his things. As he passed the head of the school, Principal Caldwell added, "I hope you've learned your lesson." "I have," Charlie said. "I need to call my lawyer more often." He smiled at the annoyed look on Mr. Caldwell's face as he left the office. Charlie made his way to the parking lot at the front of the building near the buses. He stood on a corner looking around for Will's car when he spotted David. Charlie smiled and waved at his friend; however, David hastily averted his gaze and got on his bus. Charlie was quiet when they got home. Ry and Billy talked about how much high school sucked and how hard the tests were, while Charlie worried that he'd never talk to his only friend again. Charlie went to bed early, so he wouldn't have to talk about his feelings. After kissing Ry the night before, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the awkwardness it caused, while also trying to cope with David being mad at him. For his part, Ry didn't push the issue and only gave Charlie a light hug before rolling over. Will, once again, dropped Charlie off at school. Charlie made his way to class and took his seat. He didn't bother looking for David and was glad that Joey's seat was still empty. Mrs. McGrady took Charlie's work from the previous day with an uncharacteristically kind grin. Normally, the stern, elderly woman maintained a frown, so seeing any amount of warmth only made Charlie suspicious. The class work was also rather light. They worked on some math problems that everyone had issues with while he was gone. For spelling, Mrs. McGrady split the class in two. Charlie was on one team, while David was on the other. For the first time, Charlie tried to make eye contact, but David only kept his head down. Charlie could see the bruise and scratches he received from Joey, which made him dislike the bully even more. Their teacher called upon the students from each side to spell the randomly chosen words from their spelling lists. The student who spelled their word correctly got a point for their team, and if it was misspelled, then the other team had a chance to spell the word for the point. The first team to correctly spell 10 words got to go to lunch and recess before everyone else in the class. The contest was heated, as everyone wanted to get that extra time away from class. Charlie did particularly well, having correctly spelled four words. David got one word. Charlie gave him a thumbs up, but David didn't look his way. It was close, but Charlie's team lost by one word. A girl named Megan couldn't spell Mississippi, having added too many S's. When lunch came, to his amazement, a lot of his classmates praised him for getting so many words correct. None of them had ever said a word to him before, so it was both great and bothersome. David's team left one minute before Charlie's team. Charlie thought about trying to catch up with David and ask what his problem was, but decided to hang back. If David didn't want to have anything to do with him, Charlie rationalized, he would respect his choice, even if it hurt. Charlie took his tray and looked for a place to sit. He looked around the room and saw Megan waving. Charlie looked behind himself to make sure he wasn't in the way of whomever she was waving to. He didn't see anyone behind him, so he slowly turned back and saw Megan trying to wave him over. Anxiety kicked in. He couldn't believe that someone actually wanted to talk to him after all those years being a social pariah. Charlie moved towards Megan and her group of friends. He was about three tables away when he saw David sitting by himself. His heart broke along with his resolve. Charlie turned away from Megan and took the seat across from David. Without a word, Charlie split his lunch in half, took his food and moved the tray towards David. David kept his eyes down, but reached a hand out and took the tray. The friends ate in silence. Given the amount of food, they finished quickly. Charlie waited for David to finish his last bite before he asked, "Are you mad at me?" David looked up, and Charlie saw the full extent of the damage Joey did. David's left eye and cheek bone were heavily bruised, and he had road rash on his forehead from where he fell. David saw the look of pain and shock on Charlie's face and looked away once more. Finally, David said, just above a whisper, "I'm not mad at you. I thought you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore." "Why did you think that?" Charlie asked, nearly demanded. "Why would you want to be friends with a wimp like me?" Charlie could hear the pangs of shame in his friend's voice. "You're not a wimp," Charlie said, trying to hide his hurt and anger. "Joey sucker punched us both." "But you didn't fall," David said. "You hit him back. I literally fell on my face." Charlie didn't know how to respond without sounding insensitive. David was much smaller than he was, true, and he knew mentioning that would only justify David's feelings. Instead, Charlie decided to redirect the conversation. "I still want to be your friend; in fact, I asked my uncle if you could stay the night tonight." David looked up and there was a little light in his eyes. He said, "I can't stay tonight. I didn't ask my parents, since I thought you didn't want to be friends, but I can ask for next weekend...if that's okay." "Sure," Charlie said, feeling better about the situation. "I'll need to ask my dad, since I'll be home on Monday, but I think he'll be cool with it." "Cool," David said, giving a friendly, albeit pained, smile. The rest of the day was great. Charlie and David hung out during recess, and Charlie told him everything that happened after the fight. David thought it was amazing and funny that Charlie's uncle was a lawyer and scared Mr. Caldwell. He agreed that the in school suspension was the worst and was very jealous that Charlie got to go out for ice cream and to the zoo, the latter of which he had never been to, since his family couldn't afford it. "Hi Charlie," Jack Trapper said. "Hi?" Charlie said, looking confused. Jack was one of the popular kids in his grade. They took the same bus home, and Jack was one of the kids who wouldn't let Charlie sit next to him. "Wanna play kickball with us?" Jack asked, pointing at a small group of kids from class. Megan waved again. "No thanks," Charlie said. "We're busy." "Oh, okay," Jack said, sounding disappointed, and he returned to his friends. "Why didn't you go?" David asked. "I won't be friends with assholes," Charlie said, plainly. "Beside, he didn't ask if you wanted to play, and I'm not going to leave my best friend out." "Thanks," David said, weakly smiling, as he removed his latest comic book from his backpack. ***Coming Soon, Chapter 21***