Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2021 01:00:00 -0800 From: John Henry Subject: Growing Up Charlie Chapter 33 (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 legality, 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 33 The next two days dragged by slowly. Charlie tried to convince his brothers to play hooky again, but they knew that crossing their father again would end poorly. Instead, they focused on their school and house work. Billy got a call from the arcade manager and was offered a part-time job after school. It was only for a few hours in the evenings, but he had weekends and most holidays off, which he was thankful for. Billy's new job meant less time Charlie got to spend with his brother, so Ry did his best to make up for it. Ry made a character for Charlie's video game. It wasn't much different than the roleplaying game he loved, so he took to it much faster than Billy had. On Wednesday, Joey told Charlie that his dad was okay with him staying the weekend; his dad had a new girlfriend who didn't like kids. "It's okay," Joey said, when Charlie and David gave their dissenting opinions. "I don't like her either." "You're lucky your parents are still together," Charlie told David. "My dad's girlfriend is a bitch." "Yeah, there aren't a lot of kids whose parents are still together," David noted. "It sucks I can't stay the weekend, too." "Why can't you?" Joey asked. "My grandma is sick, so my dad said we had to go to see her. She lives in Maine, so we're flying there tonight. My mom wanted to leave earlier, but my dad couldn't find a cheaper flight for all of us." "That sucks," Charlie said, "About your grandma, not the cheap tickets." "It's okay. She's actually my great grandmother. She's old, too. I think she's over 100 or something like that. I only met her once or twice when I was little, so I don't really know her." Joey gave David a brief hug, which got them mocked by some of the other boys on the playground. Charlie told them to fuck off, which got him sent to the principal's office. Mr. Caldwell gave him a warning, claiming that if it wasn't for the holidays, Charlie would've received a worse punishment; however, Charlie suspected that Mr. Caldwell didn't want to deal with Will after the last the lawyer had been called in to defend Charlie. Due to his job hours, Billy got his schedule changed, so he was able to give the younger boys a ride home. Joey had brought a large duffle bag that made it awkward climbing the stairs to Charlie's room. Not knowing what to bring, Joey packed several changes of clothes, his gaming console, several games and some books to read. From the doorway, Billy said, "I didn't know you were moving in." Joey gave a sarcastic laugh, and Charlie said, "Why not? Your boyfriend moved in when you two were 12." Billy couldn't resist and said, "So, Joey's your boyfriend?" He walked away laughing, as the two boys blushed with embarrassment. Charlie and Joey went to the kitchen to get something to drink shortly after Billy's rudeness. The boys stopped suddenly at the bottom of the stairs. Justin and Billy were making out in the doorway. The teens broke apart as the grade schoolers awkwardly walked by. "Hey Charlie," Justin said as he entered the kitchen with a large box in his arms. "Hey," Charlie said, grabbing a glass from a cupboard. "I'm Justin, by the way," Justin said, offering Joey a hand. Charlie noticed that Joey gave Justin a hesitant and questioning look but shook the high schooler's hand, nonetheless. "Joey," was all he said in return. "Where's Billy?" Charlie asked, looking around for his brother. "He left for work," Justin said, not taking his eyes off the boys. "I offered to watch you till Ry gets here. I hope that's alright." "I guess," Charlie said. "What's in the box?" He asked, looking at the table. "Oh, I told Billy that I'd help him with his car after work. He wants to know how to change his tires and fluids, so I offered to show him." "Cool," Charlie said, looking around awkwardly. "I actually have another box I need to get out of the trunk, if you want to help me." Thinking quickly, Charlie said, "I can't. My knee still hurts from my fall." "Sorry to hear that," Justin said. He turned to Joey and said, "How about you help me then." Unable to think as quickly as Charlie, Joey agreed to help. Charlie went to his room, hoping to avoid any further contact with Justin. He wasn't mad at him, but he still hadn't gotten over the sexual contact. Charlie often missed his connection with the young man. Justin made everything really weird that night, and Charlie wasn't sure if things would ever go back to how they were before. At the car, Justin opened the lid to the trunk. Inside were two medium sized boxes. Both were simply marked as "Car Parts" and the other as "Fluids." "It's been a while," Justin said. "How have you been?" Joey looked at his feet and said, "Fine." "I really miss Brian," There was a hint of emotion in Justin's voice. "Me too. I wish Dad never sent him away." "Yeah, me too." Justin reached for a box and stopped. He looked at Joey and gently lifted the boy's face, till the 10-year-old's soft, blue eyes met his. "I miss you, too, you know. Your dad made it clear that we couldn't hang out anymore." "I know," Joey said, his eyes tearing up. "I still love Brian...and I love you, too. Do you still love me?" "Yes," Joey said, his voice quivering. "You can't tell anyone we know each other. If your dad ever found out we know Charlie or his family...." "He'd get really pissed." "At the very least. We both know what he's capable of." "I know." Justin knelt down and pulled Joey into his arms. They hugged each other really tight. Justin said, "We can still see each other here if you're okay with that. If you're not, let me know now, and we can continue pretending that we don't know each other like in the park." "No," Joey said, a hint of desperation in his voice. "I've missed you so much. I want to see you." "That's good to hear," Justin whispered into the boy's shoulder. When they were done hugging, Justin and Joey took the boxes into the garage. Justin told Joey to go play with Charlie. Before Joey got to the stairs, however, Justin said, "Charlie's special, Joey." Joey gave Justin a quick smile and went up to Charlie's room. Ry came home about an hour later. He wasn't thrilled to see Justin, as usual, but kept his opinions to himself. Justin went up to Charlie's room and said goodbye. "Nice meeting you," Joey said, giving Justin a covert grin. "You too," Justin said with a slight wink. Having seen Justin's wink, Charlie waited till the teen was gone and asked Joey, "Do you two know each other?" "I've seen him around the trailer park, but I've never talked to him," Joey lied. "What do you want to do first?" He asked, hoping to change the subject. Ry checked in on the boys after Justin left. All three agreed to continue their roleplaying game, even though David wasn't there, with Ry playing his character. The younger boys were doing their homework at the dinner table when Rick came in. As usual, Charlie's father was exhausted but glad he had a four-day weekend with his sons and Joey. Dinner was relatively simple: Tacos. Joey had never made his own tacos before, which Charlie thought was funny. Ry, however, having experienced neglectful parents, took pity on Joey and helped him out. Joey's dad usually heated up whatever frozen or canned meal he could find in the store. He admitted to himself that he was a little jealous of Charlie and his family. They lived in a nice house, his brothers were really nice, Charlie's dad seemed pretty cool (at least cooler than his own dad), and they had home cooked meals. Joey didn't totally hate his dad, but he definitely wished he could trade places with Charlie. Billy came home around seven. He complained about how busy it was. There was a confusion in the schedule and two birthday parties were reserved for the same room at the same time. His manager called the corporate office to sort things out, while Billy was left having to hear two mothers complain about the service, as if he was the one who got things wrong. "I told them that it was only my second day there, but those karens didn't care and continued to yell at me for it." "Sounds like they were just frustrated and disappointed," Rick said. He and Billy were seated next to each other on the couch while the others had gone upstairs to game. "I'm sure they didn't mean anything personal by it." "One called me an irresponsible, lazy fuck," Billy said, before violently biting into his taco. "We both know you're not lazy when it comes to fucking," Rick quietly said, rubbing Billy's crotch. His son nearly choked on his dinner. After Billy finished swallowing, Rick continued, "With Joey here, I think the others will be really busy...maybe too busy to pay attention...so I was thinking we could have some fun of our own in the garage." "Your car or mine?" Billy asked, as he felt the front of his work pants get wet with precum. "How about yours? It's the one place in the house we haven't fucked in yet." Billy said, kissing his dad, "Or how about when everyone goes to bed?" Billy sent Justin a text asking to reschedule for the next day. "Absolutely," Rick said, returning his son's kiss with some tongue. Ry raised his hand and slammed in against the floor. "And with a thunderous bang, the dragon's lifeless corpse falls to the ground, blood pouring from the wounds your glowing sword inflicted over this long, arduous combat." Both boys shouted out in victory. They had spent the better part of four hours tracking down the elder wyrm through the mountains around the small town of Abner's Ford. Once they found the dragon's lair, it took them another hour to get past the dragon's magical traps and minions, and then over another hour to finally kill the damned thing. Luckily, none of their characters died, though David's character almost did, since Ry's dice rolls were very poor. What the players didn't know was that Ry fudged his rolls to add more excitement to the game; plus, he didn't realize how hard the fight could've been and didn't want a total player kill, especially without David present. "As you return to the mining town of Abner's Ford, you're greeted by a wave of excitement and cheers of joy by the haggard townsfolk. The loot you gathered is more than enough to supply your journeys for the next several campaigns, while also aiding the reconstruction of the town and its fortifications." "Why can't we keep everything?" Joey asked, confused. "We fought the dragon. All they did was tell us where to find it." "Because," Charlie said, "not only is it the right thing to do, but our reputation gets better, so at the next job, we can charge more for our services." "That's right," Ry said, winking at Charlie. To Joey, he said, "Nobody will want to hire you if they think you're greedy and selfish." "I guess, but that's a lot of gold." "It is," Charlie said, "but we'll get a lot more than that with the next dragon." "Shit," Ry said. "It's after midnight. Time for bed." "But we don't have school tomorrow," both Charlie and Joey exclaimed. "I know, but I'm tired. We have all weekend to play some more, but I won't be any good if I don't get enough sleep." "Okay," the boys relented, as Charlie yawned. They all took turns going to the bathroom across the hall to get ready for bed. Charlie was the last one out. As he came back into his room, he saw Joey in his underwear, climbing into bed. Normally, Charlie slept in pajama bottoms and his briefs, but something in him decided to just sleep in his briefs. He justified this by telling himself that it might be too warm to wear his flannel bottoms. "That was a kickass battle," Joey said. "Yeah it was," Charlie agreed. "It would've been nice to have all that gold, though." Charlie laughed and said, "Maybe you should've been the thief?" Joey laughed as well. "Maybe if my character dies, I'll make one." They talked about what kind of characters they'd play if they got a chance and what kinds of adventures they wanted to go on next. Eventually, the conversation died down, and they grew silent. "Can I ask you a personal question without you getting mad at me?" Joey asked. Charlie could hear the fear just below the seriousness in Joey's tone. "Yeah, I guess," he replied. "Are you gay?" Charlie felt his blood run cold. Did Justin tell him something when they got the boxes? Charlie thought. He didn't want to respond, but he also didn't want Joey to make assumptions, either. Hoping to delay his response, Charlie asked, "Why?" "Before we were friends," Joey said, sheepishly, "I heard Tommy Donovan telling everyone that you were gay because your brothers are." Charlie felt very relieved that it wasn't Justin's fault for the inquiry; however, he wasn't thrilled that Tommy was talking about him like that. "Tommy can fuck himself," Charlie said bitterly. "Why would Tommy say it if it wasn't true?" "Because Tommy is a liar and a bully. He loves attention and will lie about people to get it." "It's okay if you are gay, though. I won't tell anyone." Joey offered. There was something in Joey's voice that struck Charlie oddly. "Are you gay?" He asked. It was Joey's turn to go silent. Eventually, Joey whispered, "Yes." A desperation filled his throat as he hastily pleaded, "Please don't tell anyone!" "Why would I tell anyone? You know Billy is gay. Hell, you saw him kissing his boyfriend in my living room." "I know," Joey said, his panic barely calmed by Charlie's words. "But if my dad found out...." Joey's voice faded, as his whole body quivered with terror. "I promise," Charlie said. "I won't tell anyone, but you don't have to hide who you are here. You're safe to be who you are here, and nobody will judge you for it." "Thanks," Joey said. He gave Charlie a hug, who was caught off guard by the act, barely being able to see Joey in the near pitch black of the bedroom. Charlie returned the hug and added further assurances that Joey's secret was safe with him. Joey let go of Charlie and then said, "You never answered my question, though." "I said I wouldn't tell, Joey," Charlie said frustrated. "How many times do I have to say it?" "Not that," Joey said, "I asked if you were gay and you didn't answer me." Damn, Charlie thought. I was so close! He took a deep breath and decided to be about as honest as he could, given that Joey was open and honest with him. "I don't know what I am." He explained what Billy had told him about being Asexual and how it kind of made sense to him. "But," Charlie said, steadying his breath, wishing his heart would stop pounding in his chest, "I have had sex with a boy before, so I don't know if I'm actually gay or not." "Really?" Joey said, getting excited. "Who was it with? Was it David?" "No," Charlie said. "It's nobody you know." Joey seemed to buy the lie more than his eldest brother would have, which Charlie was grateful for. "What did you do?" Charlie told Joey of what happened to him in Justin's car, making sure to change enough of the story to hide Justin's part in it. "I was with an older boy in his parents' car. We pulled down our pants and jerked each other off." "Wow," Joey said. "Do you still see that kid?" "No," Charlie said. "He moved last summer." "That sucks," Joey said, sounding very disappointed. "Have you ever done anything like that with a boy before?" "Yeah," Joey said, sounding rather insecure. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to freak out or tell anyone?" Given the entirety of the conversation thus far, Charlie was growing tired of having to make promises that he felt Joey should've known not to ask. However, he said, "Yeah, I promise." "It was with my brother, Brian." Charlie was shocked. He didn't expect to hear that. "Your brother?" He wasn't sure if he was disgusted or not, but he felt he owed it to Joey to hear what happened. "Yeah. He was my older brother." "Was?" Charlie asked, not liking where this was headed. "He died a couple years ago," Joey said, his voice was very child-like and small, as if he was speaking from far away. "My dad caught me and him one night. My dad got really mad and hit Brian hard and yelled at him. Brian said that he wasn't hurting me. I tried defending my brother, but Dad hit me, called me a faggot and threw Brian in mine and Brian's room. Dad asked Brian if he was gay, and Brian said he was and even had a boyfriend. Dad didn't like that and hurt Brian really, really bad." Charlie started to shake as Joey told his story. Flashes from his nightmares played across his mind intermixed with Joey's narration. Charlie's mind's eye replaced Joey's dad with Ry's, and Brian became Ry. With a very dry, quivering voice, Charlie asked in a whipser, "Did your dad kill Brian?" "No," Joey said, a mixture of shock and sadness. "Brian did have to go to the hospital, but Dad said Brian was attacked by a gang on the way home from a friend's. He made me tell the police that lie, so Brian and I wouldn't have to go into foster care." "What happened to your brother?" "Dad sent Brian to a church camp for gay kids to make them not gay anymore." "Did they kill him?" Charlie asked, not sure he really wanted the answers but also acknowledging that he needed to hear the rest of the story. "He killed himself," Joey said, his voice breaking for the first time. Charlie hadn't noticed until that point, but Joey had been hugging his right arm with his head on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie felt tears fall from Joey's eyes, as the drops fell then ran down his bare chest. "Dad found out later that they were really mean to Brian. Brian's boyfriend got letters from him, and Brian said that they beat and starved him. I guess one of the pastors raped him a few times." Charlie gasped. He couldn't imagine what Brian went through, but he had seen the aftermath of what hating a child could be like. Tears fell down his own face, as memories of Ry's near-lifeless body stuck in his head. He started to cry, not caring if Joey saw him or not. However, Joey took it as permission to cry as well. "I'm sorry I hit you," Joey said. "What?" Charlie said through his pain, unable to connect the conversation to Joey's words. "I hit you, because I thought you and David were gay," Joey said, still crying. "I thought if I could get you to hate me, we wouldn't be friends, and it wouldn't hurt if something happened to you like what happened to my brother." Charlie had a hard time following the logic, but decided to not pursue it. He heard the sincerity in Joey's voice and knew that the details weren't necessary. Charlie rolled over and pulled his friend into his arms, despite Joey being several inches taller. "I forgive you," Charlie whispered. Joey took a few steadying breaths. He wiped his eyes clear and then reached up and did the same for Charlie. Joey leaned in and kissed Charlie on the lips. Charlie froze for a brief second and gently returned the kiss. Unlike with Justin, Charlie didn't feel any weirdness kissing Joey. It didn't exactly feel right, but he didn't feel any shame or pressure. They parted lips, and Charlie slid his tongue into Joey's mouth. Charlie felt some hesitation in Joey's reaction, so he backed off a little. Joey then gingerly touched his tongue to Charlie's. Charlie let Joey explore his mouth at his own pace, knowing what it was like being forced to kiss like an adult when he wasn't ready. Joey moved his hands over Charlie's back and chest, while Charlie continued to hold Joey. Charlie became aware of Joey's boner, as it poked him through their briefs. He didn't have a full boner, himself. He could feel it had gotten bigger but knew it wasn't as hard as Justin had made it the night on the hill. Joey pulled away first. Though Charlie couldn't properly see his friend's face, he got the impression that Joey was smiling. "Can you hold me tonight?" Joey asked. 'Sure,'' Charlie said. He tilted his head up and kissed Joey on the forehead. Joey returned the kiss in kind, though tilting his head down, before rolling over, and wrapping Charlie's arms around him. Charlie kissed Joey's shoulder, as they closed their eyes and fell asleep. ***Coming Soon, Chapter 34***