It had been a bit of a rough night for Chris, he had quite a few bad dreams, but every time that Hayden felt Chris dreaming, he would hug his friend tight and just tickle his back to calm him down, all while whispering that it was just a dream and that he was okay. Eventually morning came though, and they both woke up, a bit later than normal because of the poorer than normal sleep.

“Good morning Chris, I'd ask how you slept, but I know.”

“I hope I didn't keep you awake!” Chris said in concern, he had never actually woken up during the night, just had the dreams and a very restless sleep.

“Yeah, but don't worry about it, you needed my comforting more than I needed sleep, so don't worry. How do you feel this morning though, the dreams weren't too bad were they?”

“I don't really remember. I don't normally remember my dreams, so I don't know. All I know is that during the night I felt really relaxed at times.”

“Yeah, that was probably me tickling your back and whispering that it was only dreams and that they couldn't hurt you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Chris smiled warmly.

“No problem. I think though that we're not going to do a morning workout today. Not only are we a bit more tired than normal, but we have a lot of painting to do today.”

“Okay, that sounds good to me. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm very wet, more wet than I can remember ever being when waking up, so I had better get a diaper change right quick.”

“Wow, I'll say. I've never wet that much at night before either.” Hayden said after copping a quick squeeze of Chris' soggy diaper.

“Yeah, well I probably peed a lot during my dreams.”

“Probably. You know though, for someone who hardly drank anything yesterday, and with as much as I know you peed, I'm surprised that you even had anything left to pee out.” Hayden chuckled.

“My mom often asks me how I can pee out more than I drink as well, but I have no clue, I just do. Most of the time though I do drink more during the day, because I have to keep my bladder flowing properly or I get infections.”

“I know what you mean, I have to do the same thing as well.” Hayden smiled.

They got up then and helped each other to get changed. As soon as they were both ready, they headed to the kitchen for breakfast. As soon as they were ready to, they got started on the chore of prepping the area for painting. Hayden had to allow Chris to lead him in this, and while he found it uncomfortable to have to follow someone else's instructions, he did just fine. He still was not exactly used to having to follow directions from someone, although he had sort of gotten used to following instructions from Jordon. They got all the furniture covered first of course, took all the pictures down, and then taped off any areas that they did not want painted. Their first coat in the living room took a little more than an hour to complete, and Hayden found that it was quite easy to do, but was difficult at the same time, because it required a great deal of precision in certain areas. It took a while, but he did get used to it, since he was already a very precise young man, and he was patient.

“Wow, I really like this color in here, it really is nice.” Hayden said as soon as they were done the first coat.

“Yeah, it's nice for sure.”

“How long before we can start the second coat, or do you think we'll need to? I can't even see any spots that we missed.”

“No, this is really good paint, so we could probably leave it at one coat, but we should do a second just in case. We can start almost right away, we just start where we started from in the first place. It'll be dry enough already, so we may as well.”

“Cool.”

So an hour later and they were finished their second coat. It was then decided that they would go and relax for a bit before starting the moldings, although they did decide to do just one coat on them, because they were already white, just needed touching up more than anything. As they sat there relaxing, they chatted, but Hayden mostly went over ways for Chris to overcome his fears and become more confident. Chris was still unsure if he could do it, but he at least listened. A couple hours later they made and ate lunch, and then they got started on the moldings. This took close to two hours to do, there were a lot of moldings for a fair sized room, as well they had to go much slower, so as not to mess up the wall paint. A few slips here and there of course happened, but a damp rag was all they needed to fix the mistake.

“There we go, it looks awesome. I bet daddy loves it.” Hayden smiled brightly.

“I'm sure he will, it really does look good, doesn't it.”

“Yeah. Now all we have to do is put up the curtains tomorrow, and it'll all be set. We can probably take the plastic off of everything now, I don't think we need it any more.”

“'Kay, let's do it then.”

It took only a few minutes to remove the plastic from everything, they got it and all the paint accessories cleaned and or put away in the garage, and then they went back to see how it all looked now without the plastic. They liked it even more.

“Thanks so much for your help Chris, I couldn't have done it without you.”

“No prob, the least I could do, call it a bit of payback for helping me so much.” Chris smiled warmly back to his friend.

“Nah, no repayment is necessary for helping you out, that's just what friends do.” Hayden smiled warmly right back.

“Likewise.”

“So, what should we do now then?” Hayden asked.

“Don't know. I'm not so sure that I want to go out again, so maybe just watch a movie or two.” Chris suggested.

“I didn't feel like going out either, so movies it is.” Hayden answered happily.

They only ended up watching one movie before they decided that it was time for a diaper change and then for bed. They changed each other, making sure to put a good coating of cream on each other before taping up a nice thick diaper. They crawled into bed and said goodnight, and then they fell asleep. This night Chris only had a couple bad dreams, but neither of them anywhere near as intense as the previous nights dreams had been, so they both slept far better.

“Good morning Chris, you had a much better sleep last night, I only woke up to you twice throughout the night. How do you feel this morning?”

“Much better, thanks, and good morning to you too.” Chris smiled.

“Thanks. Well, we should probably get up and go get some breakfast. What time are you supposed to be home today?”

“Just after breakfast time, but breakfast for my mom is around ten am, because she usually sleeps until about nine when I'm at home.”

“What time does she get off work?”

“Seven, but she comes home and usually stays up with me until I go to school, and then sleeps while I'm there. Because I'm not at school right now though, she usually has a bit of a nap as soon as she gets home, so that we can spend some of the morning together before she goes to bed.”

“What does she work?”

“Seven pm to seven am four nights a week. Usually it would rotate, but she prefers to just work the nights instead of rotating, so someone else gets to work all days instead. She is supposed to get four days off, work four, get four off, but she takes an extra shift every week, so works five and gets three off instead. They don't mind though with how short staffed they are, they'll take all the overtime volunteers that they can get. Today is the first of her three days off though, so she'll be home for the next few days, but of course she's not usually awake during the day too much.”

“I meant to ask you actually, why aren't you in school right now?”

“Christmas break, oh sorry, I mean winter break. Man I hate that politically correct bullshit, it's bloody Christmas break. Anyways, we're off for almost three weeks. Christmas is in a week, didn't you know that?”

“No, actually, I had no idea. I haven't even seen a calendar in probably three years. The only reason I know what day of the week it is at all, is because daddy comes home on Friday, which is tomorrow.”

“Oh man. Please tell me that you have at least bought him something for Christmas?”

“Of course I haven't, I just found out that it was Christmas in a week, remember, you just told me like thirty seconds ago. Wow, you have a bad memory.” Hayden laughed.

“Oh dear. Do you guys even have any decorations?”

“Probably not, I certainly haven't seen any anywhere around.”

“Crap, we have to go buy the stuff, like right away. Maybe I'll ask my mom to take us, she'll understand, it's an emergency.”

“No, you have little time with your mom as is, you don't need to be hauling her out to do our shopping. If you really want to help, wait until she goes to bed, and then we will go out shopping together and buy some stuff, and then maybe we can decorate the house.”

“Okay, you're right of course, and she'll be too tired to go this morning anyways. Well, we should probably go get some breakfast, and then get the curtains hung before I have to go home.”

“That sounds good to me. Will you come over after your mom goes to bed then?”

“Yeah, that'll be about twelve to one or so.”

“That works. Come on.”

They hopped out of bed, leaving their diapers as is for the time being, both figuring that they would hold up. They went and made and ate breakfast, cleaned up from that, and then went to get the curtains all hung up. Once again Hayden had to let Chris lead in this project, because while he was certain he would figure it out easily enough, figuring that it certainly was not too terribly difficult, he did figure that Chris would be able to get it done far faster, considering that he did that sort of thing from time to time. Within the hour they had the curtains all hung up, and they were both pleased with how they looked. They were at the perfect height, and the size of the rod and it's holders looked perfect with them.

“There, now that really sets off the room, if you ask me of course.” Chris said after stepping back and looking at it objectively.

“I agree, it really does look very nice. Thanks so much for all your help. We should probably go get changed, and then I'll walk you home.”

“Oh, okay. Why would you walk me home though?”

“You've been attacked more than a few times already in the recent past, you're not ready to face another confrontation on your own yet, and if something were to happen, I'm afraid that you'd just fall apart. I don't want that to happen to you, yet. You'll need to face those fears, sooner rather than later, but you're not ready yet. When you're ready to come back later, call me and I'll meet you half way, okay.”

“Once again, you're probably right.” Chris sighed, knowing that Hayden was one hundred percent correct, not just probably. Hayden could see in Chris' eyes though that Chris knew it to be fully true as well though, they both knew what the other was thinking pretty much.

“Yes, I am, and you know I am as well, I can see it in your eyes. But hey, what are friends for, I'd never let you fight your own battle until you're ready for it. Granted, when I think you're ready, and when you think you're ready, are more than likely going to be two different times.” Hayden smiled softly.

“Great. Why did I have a sick feeling that you were going to say something like that?”

“Because you already know it to be true.”

“Yeah.”

With that, they headed to the bedroom to get changed. The clothes that had been put in the wash last night had been transferred to the dryer, so they were all dry and ready to go, so they both just grabbed their clothes from there and got dressed. As soon as they were ready, they headed out. The walk was not long, but it was getting bitterly cold outside, and it was starting to look and feel as if it was going to snow soon, something that they rarely saw in their small city. As soon as Chris was safely on his doorstep, Hayden turned and walked away with a wave. Chris never asked if he wanted to come in and meet his mom, because Chris also knew a little something about Hayden, Hayden was afraid of getting too close to another woman. He waved back and turned to go in the house. Hayden just walked the rest of the way home in silence, pondering about a few things.

As soon as Hayden made it back home, he stripped out of his clothes and decided to go down to the basement to get a good workout going. He put in a different workout video this time, and worked out to that for the full hour. He then went and did his gymnastics workout and finally the limited amount of martial arts that he knew. All told he was down there for nearly three hours before hopping into the sauna and then the hot tub. As he was climbing out of the shower after cleaning up, the phone was ringing.

“Hi Hayden, it's Chris.” Chris said as soon as he heard Hayden pick up, Hayden had not even had a chance to say anything yet.

“Hi Chris, I knew it would be you of course. You ready to come over now then?”

“Yeah, my mom just went to bed, but she asked that I be home by five so that we can have dinner together and so that I would be home for the night.”

“That's fine. I just have to get dressed, and then I'll be out the door. Meet you at the corner in just a few minutes, and then we'll go shopping from there I guess. We'll probably have to catch a cab back though.”

“Okay, and my mom gave me a few bucks so that we could get lunch while we're out.”

“Oh, she didn't have to do that, I would have paid.”

“I know and she knows, but we both also know you bought a couple times now. Meet you in a few minutes then.”

“Okay, meet you in a few.”

They hung up, and then they both went to get changed and dressed. Chris too needed to get a diaper change and to get dressed, because whenever he was at home, he was just in his diaper, it was far more comfortable that way. He had not changed his diaper since waking up, so it needed changing quite badly, he just had not bothered until now though. As soon as they were both diapered, they got dressed, and then headed out.

“Hey man, how you feeling?” Hayden asked as soon as they were within earshot.

“Great, and you?” Chris answered happily.

“Great as well. Come on, let's go Christmas shopping.”

“Cool.”

This time Hayden did not have his little shopping cart with him, because he knew that all that they would be buying that day would be too much for it anyways, not to mention that they really would have to take a cab home. They made it to the mall a short time later, and while it was pretty busy, it was not too bad.

“Oh great.” Chris muttered a few minutes after making it into the mall.

“What?” Hayden asked, turning to look at his friend, he had been looking at a display in the center of the mall.

“Remember the older boy, the friend of that Oliver kid, well, he's coming straight for us.” Chris said, pointing out the boy he was mentioning.

“Oh him, he's harmless, he didn't want to fight yesterday, and he certainly doesn't want to today. Looks like he has his younger brother with him, as well we're in a packed mall, certainly not the place to start a fight.” Hayden said after taking only a second to look over.

“Hi boys, I believe you remember me, from yesterday. I'm really sorry about that, it was uncomfortable to say the least.”

“Nah, that was fun.” Hayden laughed.

“You know, I can honestly say that I believe that you would find beating bullies up fun. Oliver's not exactly a bully though, although his little brother sure is. Oliver's just very combative and protective. You threaten him or his family and he gets very angry. It wasn't entirely his fault, that's just how he is, and he really wouldn't have fought you. Boy did he lay into his brother though when we got back to their place and he recovered enough. Man, I have no idea what you did to him, but he said the pain was incredible for like two full hours after, and he could barely do anything. He was pissed, but then again, so was I. My brother here has the same condition as you guys do, so he too has to wear diapers all the time. He doesn't go to school any more, he's not strong enough to deal with the bullying that he was getting, he quit two years ago and started home schooling. Oliver's brother and my brother never really got along anyways, so he had no idea about Calvin. That's my little brother by the way, in case you weren't paying attention.”

“It's good to meet you Calvin.” Both boys said.

“I didn't blame Oliver for what happened, I knew that his brother tattled, hence the reason he brought the posse, but then when I found out why he found out, I wasn't exactly mad at his brother either. He just has to learn to keep his calm a little more, but I guess I didn't help in that endeavor by being mouthy, but I felt that we deserved it. Besides, it was fun watching the look of fear on the younger twos faces. They knew without a shadow of a doubt that they were going to die a most painful death.”

“Yes, well both boys' pants were more than a little damp when we made it back, so I have no doubt how scared they were. I'm Alvin by the way, but don't call me that, just call me Al, because I don't believe I ever said it.”

“Good to meet you Al. Did your parents have some sort of sick sense of humor to call you boys Alvin and Calvin or what?” Hayden laughed.

“I asked them the same question once, actually it was more like what the hell kind of drugs were you smoking when you thought up our names.” Al laughed as well, even Calvin smiled a bit. So far he had said nothing, he had not looked to the other boys, he had just done nothing but look sullen.

“I probably would have asked the same thing.” Chris chuckled.

“So, Calvin. Both Chris and I understand a great deal where it is that you're coming from. The bullies in my school tried their best to torment me, but I just beat the shit out of them. Chris though has dealt with the bullies in his school by just letting them use and abuse him. He and you are a lot alike. I'm trying to teach Chris how to be more confident and less afraid, maybe you'd like to join in on that training, so that you can actually talk and try and have fun. You haven't even talked once or looked at us for more than a second.” Hayden said softly to the boy.

“I'd like that.” Calvin whispered out.

“Good. I also think that you could stand to go get your diaper changed, it's starting to show quite a bit, so you've peed a lot.”

“I haven't started leaking have I?” He asked aghast in a soft whisper.

“No, not yet, but if you pee anymore, you probably will. I'd like for you to come over to my house tomorrow, as early as you possibly can. I get up at five, and Chris can probably be there for about then as well if you can make it, and then we'll start by doing a really good workout. If we can get you stronger in body, we can get you stronger in mind as well.”

“I'm usually up at about five as well.”

“Good, come on over as soon as you can then. I'll give you my address.” Hayden said, and then reached into his pocket. He had some paper and a pen in his wallet, so he wrote out the information.

“May I come as well?” Al asked.

“No, at least not this time. Calvin needs to learn to do some things on his own. I hate to say it, because you clearly love your brother, but it's possible that your always sticking up for him has caused some of his problems, he doesn't know how to fend for himself.” Hayden said softly, but making sure that it did not come out in an accusatorial sort of way.

“Maybe you're right, I've always been there for my brother. As a baby though he was always so small and frail, he needed me there all the time with him to help him, I guess maybe I just stayed doing it, it's just what we do.”

“And that's good that you were there for your brother, I'm sure that he appreciates it a great deal, and probably loves you for it. But sometimes you have to let others fight their own battles as well, just be there for them at the end when they need a strong shoulder to cry on, or be there to jump in if something happens and you need to.”

“I suppose that that's true. So, what are you guys here for today anyways?'

“I have to buy all the decorations for our house as well as get my dad a Christmas gift.”

“Why would you have to buy all the decorations for your house?” Calvin asked softly.

“Because we have none yet. My dad worked for the military, so never had the stuff before, and we just found each other finally, he didn't even know he had a child in fact.”

“Oh. That's cool then. Why isn't he here with you to buy the stuff then?”

“Because he had to go on an emergency mission to train some new recruits, so he's been gone for almost two weeks, but he comes home tomorrow.”

“Oh, that's cool.” Al said.

“You have no idea. Maybe some day I'll tell you what he does for them.” Hayden grinned.

“Cool. Well, we have to go finish the Christmas shopping for our parents, and then we have to get home. I promised my mom that I'd have Calvin home for lunch, and that's coming up pretty quick, so we have to hurry. I saw you though as we were heading out, and I had to come over and apologize.”

“But you haven't bought anything yet!” Chris pointed out the lack of bags.

“No, not yet, like I said, we were just on our way to head out when we saw you. We had been looking around for more than an hour though, trying to figure out what to buy. We both decided on something that we saw on our way into the mall, so we're on our way there to pick that up, and then we're outta here.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Well, have a good day then.” Chris smiled.

“You too guys.” Al said.

“Bye.” Calvin said.

“Bye guys.” Hayden said to their retreating backs.

“He's quite nice actually, and his brother is even worse than I am.”

“Yes, he is, and his little brother is extremely gay. I think we may have just found a good boyfriend for you. I'd say he's somewhere between the age of twelve to thirteen, so he's perfect for you, and he was pretty cute too.”

“Yeah, I thought he was gay as well, but do you think that he'd like me like that?”

“Only time will tell. Come over tomorrow morning as soon as you wake up, and we'll let fate take you where it will.” Hayden smiled warmly.

“Okay.” Chris smiled brightly.

For the next few hours the two of them looked around the mall, looking all over for different things for the house, and a gift for Jordan. They had grabbed a shopping cart on their way in, and by the time that they decided to leave, it was very nearly full. Then again, there was also a Christmas tree in there as well, and it was quite large. They had stopped for lunch when they deemed it time to do so, and when they were almost ready to go, they went and called for a cab. They were told one would be there in about half an hour, so they went to the entrance where they were to meet the taxi and waited there, chatting as they had been for the entire time they were in the mall. Only a little over thirty minutes later their cab pulled up and they went out to meet the driver. He saw the boys coming towards him with a shopping cart full, so opened the trunk and went out to help them load up. A few minutes later, and they were on their way home. The trip was short, so thankfully it did not cost lots, and they paid and took everything into the house.

“Wow, we sure got a lot of stuff. Care to help me decorate now?” Hayden asked as soon as they had everything into the living room.

“Okay, sure.” Chris smiled.

They both stripped down to just their diapers and then went about decorating the living room all up nicely. They started with the tree of course, and then decorated it, and finally decorated the room around it. By the time that they were done, it looked very festive, and very nice.

“Wow, would you look at this. I think that when your dad walks in tomorrow night he will be amazed at the transformation of this room. We made it look good by painting it, but this makes it look great.”

“I agree, and I really hope he likes it.”

“Oh, I think he will. How could he not really!”

“Yeah, I know.” Hayden smiled warmly.

“Well, I hate to say it, but I should probably be heading home now.”

“Yeah, and I should probably go get my dinner made and sit back and relax. Let's get dressed quickly, and then we can head over to your place.”

“Okay.” Chris said, not arguing the point.

They got dressed quickly, and before too long they were out of the house, heading towards Chris'. Once again Hayden dropped Chris at his doorstep and turned with a wave and headed home. Chris waved back and headed into the house. As soon as Hayden made it back to the house, he stripped right back out of his clothes and down to his soggy diaper, and made himself some dinner. After dinner and dishes were done, he went and sat down to watch some TV. When the evening phone call came, Hayden was extremely happy to hear that Jordan would be home the following evening, somewhere around dinner time. He went to bed not long after that and slept peacefully until the next morning.