STANDARD WARNING: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to individuals, living or dead, is pure coincidence. Do not read this story if you are offended by man-to-man romance or sex. Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live. There is sex between males. You have been warned!

Copyright 2001 by Nick Archer. Permission is granted to Nifty Archives, ASSGM, and gaywritings, to post one copy. No part may be copied, reproduced, republished, or reposted on another website without written permission from the author.

Pocketful of Stars

By Archer

Chapter 10

Do you believe in love at first sight? The kind where you see someone across a crowded room and you say to yourself, "That is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with?" Neither do I. Or at least, I didn’t until I met Dennis.

When I opened the bedroom door the next morning, he was sitting at the table with his back to me eating cereal and watching Martha Stewart. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his shoulders were wide and sexy. He was wearing a gold chain around his neck. He must have heard the door open because he turned in my direction and grinned a kind of crooked grin.

"Hi," he said to me.

Dad was also at the table sipping coffee, and Tad was standing at the breakfast bar eating toast.

I just waved. I suddenly decided that I should take a shower. I spun around back to the bedroom. I chose my best denim shorts, and my only Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt. It was bright yellow with the red, white and blue Tommy logo on the front. It’s my only one, and I was saving it especially to meet Dennis. I have to do that sometimes. I save my favorite clothes for special occasions. Hey, my parents aren’t rich, so I have to plan so that the stuff I really like is ready when I want to make a good impression.

And I wanted to make a good impression on Dennis.

I scooted back to the bathroom and took the fastest shower of my life. I slapped on some cologne that I think belonged to Tad. I even put gel in my hair, which is unusual. I love the way it makes my hair shiny, but I hate the feeling of it in my hair.

I wiped off the steam on the bathroom mirror. I looked good. I was ready.

"Hi, son," Dad said to me.

I walked around the other side of the table and just looked at Dennis. God, he was cute! He had brown hair and blue eyes. His eyes had a ring of darker blue around the outside of the iris. His eyelashes were thick and long. At first I thought he was wearing mascara. He had clear skin and just a hint of a moustache. He had a perfect smile, with perfect teeth. He had two earrings in each ear. He looked a lot like Tad, except not as big and muscular, of course.

Dennis grinned at me again, and with the spoon still in his mouth, held out his hand. A tiny droplet of milk hung at the corner of his mouth.

I shook it and held onto it a lot longer than necessary.

He put the spoon in the bowl. "You are even cuter than your picture."

Tad pasted a fake smile on his face. "Dennis," he hissed. "Remember what we talked about?"

"I-I like your tattoo," I stammered. Oh, brilliant. That was stupid, stupid, stupid. But, you should have seen this tattoo! It was about three inches across. It looked like the Proctor and Gamble symbol on Tide detergent. It was a circle with a crescent moon and stars. How did he ever get a tattoo like that? I was jealous, in a way. But it was totally sexy.

"That chair has your name on it, Joe," he pointed to the chair next to him.

I just sank down in the chair, still staring at him.

"I thought we’d go to the beach after I get back from the observatory. Joe? Joe?"

"Huh?" I realized I had been staring.

"I said, I thought we’d go to the beach this afternoon."

"Oh, OK."

"So, do you have a girlfriend, Joe?" the brown-haired god asked me.

"Um, no, not really."

"Thought so." Tad flashed Dennis a look I couldn’t quite understand.

Dennis threw back his head and laughed. He picked up his glass, got up from his chair and opened the refrigerator. He poured himself more orange juice. "Do you want some OJ, Joe?"

"Yes, thanks."

He patted his older brother on the back on the way back to the table. "Don’t worry about me, big brother. I’ve got everything under control."

Dad got up from the table, said something to Tad quietly, then went into their bedroom. Tad followed him.

Dennis said to me in a conspiratorial tone, "They’re probably making kissy-face."

Shortly after that, Dad left for the observatory. I helped Tad clear the table.

"What time did you get in?" I asked them.

"About midnight," Tad answered.

"I slept in the loft," Dennis added.

"You should take your suitcase up there, since that’s where you’ll be staying," Tad told him.

"I thought I would sleep in the other bedroom."

"Joe is in there," Tad said. "He was here first, so it’s his. Unless Joe wants to trade with you."

Before I could say anything, Dennis jumped in. "We can both sleep in the bedroom. I don’t think Joe will mind, will you, Joe?"

I tried to keep calm. "Um, no."

"Besides, that freaking futon is hard and lumpy," Dennis complained.

Tad frowned. "I don’t like the idea. But we’ll see what Sean has to say about it."

Dennis dragged his huge blue suitcase downstairs anyway, as if he knew what my dad’s answer would be.

I ran into him just as he was coming out of the bedroom. I wanted to make sure he didn’t find my hidden magazine. The excuse I was going to give him is that I wanted my baseball cap. He was carrying a shirt and a toothbrush. Our eyes met and the twinkle in his eyes lifted me off the floor. I can’t describe it. I also noticed for the first time that we were exactly the same height. Hey, when you’re a 14-year-old boy – I mean, young man – height is a major issue.

While he took a shower, I settled in front of the TV. There’s not much on TV on a Saturday during the summer. The day was really hot and humid; the kind of day that you stay inside in the cool, air-conditioned house, unless you’re at the pool or beach. He took a really long shower, and spent a long time getting dressed. I could hear the drawers of the dresser opening and closing. Calm down, Joe, I told myself. He’s just putting his clothes away. I prayed he didn’t find my magazine. He would think I was some kind of pervert or something.

We stayed inside and waited for my dad to get back. We just watched TV, flipping through the channels and talking about stupid stuff. You know, stuff like school and parents and TV and movies. He didn’t talk about what he did on the street or trying to kill himself, and I was relieved. I sprawled on the floor and he spread out on the couch. Every so often, I glanced up at him and he smiled at me.

"There’s nothing on TV during the summer," he complained. He tossed the remote to me. "Your turn to find something to watch."

"They have so many channels up here."

"Don’t you have cable in Bloomington?"

"Yeah, but my mom just downgraded to the basic package. They keep raising the price, and she says we watch too much TV as it is. We don’t even have MTV anymore."

"That sucks! Hey, have you seen that show on MTV called Real World?"

"No."

"It rocks! They take seven people and they live together in a house. Seven strangers. It’s better than any soap opera they could devise."

Devise? Some word, I thought to myself. You win the Vocabulary Word of the Day Award, young Mr. Balzekas!

Dad got home from the observatory an hour earlier than he usually does. He said that no one showed up for the third tour, so they cancelled it.

"Go put your swimsuits on, while I grab something for lunch."

"Sean," Dennis said to him, "Is it OK if I sleep in the bedroom with Joe?"

That was so smooth! By asking my dad first before Tad could get to him, Dennis did a preemptive strike. He grinned at me.

"I don’t care. How do you feel about it, Joe?"

"It’s cool with me," I tried not to sound too eager. Or too excited.

"Do you think it’s a good idea, Sean?" Tad asked.

I wanted to shut Tad up with a two-by-four. Or a hammer. A ball peen hammer.

"I think they’ll end up together no matter what we do, Tad." I wanted to hug and kiss Dad just then, and I would have done it if Dennis weren’t there. I was trying to make an impression.

Dad repeated, "Go put on your swimsuits, and we’ll go."

Dennis shut the bedroom door behind him after he pulled off his shirt. My hand was twitching because I wanted to touch his chest. It was so perfect. All of a sudden, I was very conscience of my body. Usually, I’m pretty confident about it. Hell, I’ve undressed in gym dozens of times and took showers and didn’t have too much of a problem with it. So what was the difference now? The difference is that I wanted to make a good impression. I’m sure my peeling back would look attractive.

He hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of his shorts and pulled them down with his underwear at the same time.

"Wow," he said, "you must have had some sunburn." He crossed the room and touched my right shoulder. I jumped about five feet.

He was still naked! And he was touching me!

"I’m sorry," he apologized. "Does it still hurt?"

"No, not at all," I told him truthfully.

By this time, I had a woody. God, I can’t let him see my boner! I pulled down my shorts very quickly. I kept my back to him the whole time. I stepped into my swimsuit and pulled it up as fast as I could.

"Why are you so shy?" he asked. "We’re both boys here."

"Correction. I prefer to be called a young man."

We were standing on the dock at the Williams Bay public beach.

"What’s that?" he said, pointing in the general direction of everywhere.

I squinted and strained my eyes. Then, I felt his hand on my back. The next thing I knew I was in the water! He had pushed me in.

"You weasel!" I yelled at him when I surfaced.

He jumped in next to me in the water, splashing me again. When he surfaced, I dunked him.

"Hey, take it easy, I don’t know how to swim."

"You don’t?" I was surprised. I thought everyone had to take swimming as part of gym class. We have a pool at the junior high, and everyone has to take at least six weeks of it. I liked it. I’ll never join the swim team or win the Olympics, but I’m pretty good.

We splashed around in the water. Dad joined us with a raft. Tad stayed on the beach with his nose in a paperback. I had to show Dennis our little trick. Dad ducked under the water, and I stood on his shoulders. As he surfaced, I dove into the water.

"That’s cool! Can I try it?"

"Sure," Dad said. Dennis must have lost his balance as Dad surfaced, because he didn’t dive. He jumped.

"I guess I need some practice."

Eventually, Dad got out of the water, and Dennis practiced by standing on my shoulders. I remember noticing how big his feet were and how sexy they felt on my shoulders. I’m not as tall or as strong as Dad, so I couldn’t give him the same power boost out of the water. But we didn’t care!

We were having so much fun, we didn’t realize how much time had passed. Dennis smiled at me every time our eyes met, and it made me feel like....oh, I don’t know....like skipping! Only it would have been pretty difficult to do in the water. Dennis liked me! And I liked him! A certain tension was gone. The big question about if we were going to get along had been answered; we were.

When we got home, it was almost dinnertime. Tad lit the grill, and we changed back into our clothes. Luckily, I didn’t get a boner this time, so I took my time getting dressed. I figured if Dennis could show off his body, so could I! I put my T-shirt on and even my socks before I put any underwear on.

I think we took a long time getting dressed, because we were talking about school – you know, what is your best subject, what is your worst subject, and that sort of crap.

"I got held back this year," Dennis admitted to me.

"Oh, man, that sucks!" I sympathized. I was trying desperately not to stare at his package. Instead, I tried to make eye contact as much as possible. Actually, looking into Dennis’ eyes wasn’t a bad alternative because they were so beautiful.

"I missed too many days of school. There’s no way I could make them up." He casually scratched his balls.

I wanted to ask him what it was like in the hospital, and how he survived on the street and all sorts of personal stuff. But it could wait.

There was a knock on the door, and we both jumped.

"The hamburgers are ready," Tad said on the other side of the door.

"OK" we said in unison. And then we smiled at each other.

After dinner, Dennis and I were in the living room smearing aloe lotion on each other’s bare backs.

"Don’t get that stuff on the furniture," Dad warned.

"We won’t," I replied. I had remembered to grab a towel for that reason. Tad had rented some videos and we were just going to watch Working Girl and Moonstruck tonight. I was a little dubious about Tad’s video choices. They sounded like chick flicks.

Dennis did me first. We sat next to each other on the couch, I was sitting to the left of Dennis. He covered my back with the gel, which was sticky. Dad had bought the kind with a painkiller in it so that it took some of the sting away.

Then it was Dennis’ turn. He pulled the hassock over from the chair. He sat on the hassock in front of me. Then, he turned his head, and said, "Spread your legs."

"What?"

"Spread your legs." When I did, he scooted back between them so that his butt was right up against my crotch.

Then, he had the nerve to wiggle his butt a little! I got instantly hard. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Adolescent Club. Making his thirty-seventh unwelcome appearance today – you know him, you love him, you can’t live without him -- it’s Joe’s Boner! I rubbed the sticky, clear lotion all over his back, then gave him a pat.

"Done," I said. But he didn’t move. In fact, he made himself more comfortable by leaning back and pressing his back against my chest, and putting his feet up on the hassock. I loved the feel of his back against my chest, even if he was getting aloe all over it. I wanted to wrap my arms around him, but I didn’t.

Dad just smiled at us, but Tad’s face was twitching. I could tell he was ready to cop a major attitude. Dennis stayed that way all through Working Girl, which was actually a pretty good movie. By the time the movie was over, it was time for David Letterman.

My Dad started me watching David Letterman. I never used to watch it, and nobody I know at school watches it. First of all, it’s on late, especially for a school night. Secondly, I don’t think most kids my age get his type of humor. But I do, and I love it.

I don’t think Dennis does. He hardly laughed through the first half-hour. During a commercial, he stood up, stretched, and announced he was going to bed.

"Good night." As Dennis left the living room, he gave a long look, as if to say, Well, aren’t you coming?

When Letterman was over, I said goodnight to them both.

A dagger of light stabbed the bedroom when I opened the door.

"Are you awake?" I whispered, hoping the answer was yes.

"Yup. Waiting for you."

I closed the door again and undressed. I still had my underwear on.

"I sleep in the nude," Dennis announced. "I hope you don’t mind."

"No, not at all." MIND? It’s what I’ve been praying for.

"Good night, Joe."

"Good night, Dennis." Is that it?

"I had fun today."

"Me, too." What were you expecting? Were you expecting us to cling together in breathless love, expressing our undying devotion to each other? Were you expecting hot steamy sex, with beads of sweat rolling off the tip of our noses? Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not me. Besides, I wouldn’t really know what to do if we got to anal sex. I’ve never tried it before.

We lay there on the bed trying like hell not to touch each other.

I listened to the air conditioner kick on to cool the house down. I started counting how many times it came on.

I counted three times before I finally fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up with a third hand in front of my face. Every so often the fingers twitched.

Then, I became aware of Dennis’ chest pressed against my back. I liked this feeling. It was warm and cozy and comfortable.

Then, I was aware of something else pressed against my back. More specifically, it was pressed against my thigh. Let’s see, I don’t remember going to bed with a cucumber. It could only be one thing.

"Good morning," I could feel his hot breath on my ear. That third hand I was telling you about? Well, now it was feeling my chest.

"Hi, there," I whispered back. I glanced at the clock. It was only 7:30.

The third hand made it’s way down to my dick.

"What’s this?" he asked. He started to stroke me.

I shrugged.

"I think he’s happy to see me," Dennis whispered as he continued to jack me off. "Is he? Because I know I’m happy to see you."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I’m happy to see you, too." What a lame conversation! Well, what did you expect from two adolescent boys – oops --- young men at 7:30 on a summer Sunday?

"You have a nice dick, Joe. You want a blow job?"

Now, there’s a question for you! And he said it so casually, too. Like, do you want ketchup on your hamburger? Do you want to watch TV or put in a video? Do you want to ride bikes or rollerblade?

I wanted to scream YES, but I just nodded.

He grinned, and kissed my navel. Then, he kissed an area between my navel and my pubes. Then, he kissed my dick lightly before taking it in his mouth.

His hot mouth. Oh my god, his mouth felt like velvet fire on my cock. No one had ever given me a blow job before. I was always the giver.

I watched his head bob up and down. Every so often his eyes rolled up toward my face. I guess he wanted to see my reaction. All I could do was smile and nod like one of those dogs that some people put in the rear window of their cars.

I felt the familiar hard lump in my groin. I was going to cum. Dennis increased the speed and pressure of his sucking. Just before I came, he removed his mouth. He held my throbbing prick in his fist as I came buckets all over myself.

"Good boy," he whispered, "atta boy."

I couldn’t help giggling. It sounded like he was talking to a dog.

"Now what are we going to do?" I asked, referring to my cum-covered belly.

"I was prepared for this." He produced a towel from the closet. "Clean up time."

When we had wiped up, he lay next to me again, and took me in his arms.

"You know, before I got up here, Tad gave me a lecture about not pushing you. He said not to push you do to anything you weren’t ready to do."

"I got the same lecture from my dad, only in reverse."

"I didn’t push you, did I?"

"No, not at all." He hadn’t pushed me, but was I ready?

Was I ready for the sex? Oh, yeah. Was I ready for the affection? I wanted it maybe even needed it. Was I ready for the love?

I’m not sure. Even today, I’m not sure of the answer. But love found us anyway, whether or not we were ready for it.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. I read and respond to all email (even if it takes a few days) Just click on one of the links below. And don't forget to check out my website (Chapters are always posted there earlier than here) and my other story here on Nifty, Paternal Instincts/Family Instincts, in the Relationships or College section.

New Email for feedback archerland@hotmail.com

Secondary Email archerland@lycos.com

ICQ 61283246

Homepage http://archerland.tripod.com

Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Archerland

New To Be notified of new chapters, send an email with "Subscribe" in the subject line to archerland03@hotmail.com