Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2022 12:56:00 +0100 From: Andrew Passey Subject: Sam's Journey of Discovery Part Nine (Young Friends) In the days after Sam's revealing chat with Sunny he felt he was definitely settling into beach life. The gentle slow pace of relaxing and swimming interspersed between meals. During the mornings he hung out at the beach or on his balcony reading a book. He'd have lunch with his parents and they'd often play cards afterwards before his parents always headed off for a "siesta". Sam convinced himself they really were just sleeping in their room. He didn't like to think of what the reality really was. It wasn't usually that long after his parents went back to their room that Sunny and usually the twins as well were around to hang out with when they were back from school. This was the time of day Sam looked forward to the most.. He was itching to spend more time with Sunny and less with his parents. While hanging out with his parents was just about okay, at times Sam felt a bit like a spare part. A lot of the time the conversations were just his parents reminiscing about old times and old haunts. One of his parents would start a sentence with "Do you remember..." which often preceded a slightly tedious long story that Sam had no idea of who the people were, where it was and no interest in what happened. Still, he was pleased to see his Mum enjoying herself. She'd had a shitty year and was definitely more like herself than she had been at home. The holiday and break had clearly been good for everyone. Sam liked spending time away from his parents and had decided he was more about making new memories for himself rather than listening to them reliving their old ones. At times he had to stop himself and realise he was sounding a bit spoilt. Most boys his age would kill to be stuck at a beach with their parents rather than being at school. But what he really wanted to do was spend more time with Sunny, maybe all his time. He knew that once Sunny broke up from school that would hopefully be easier. He tried not to countdown to the weekend but he found it hard. Then finally it was the end of the week and to both Sam and Sunny's delight Sunny was now on school holiday for three weeks. Plenty of time for the two of them to hang out together. They casually chatted after Sunny got home sharing a coke on Sunny's balcony. "So Sam, I've got a surprise for you tonight!" Sunny said, smiling at his friend. "Oh? What is it?" Sam asked, wondering what sort of surprise Sunny could be planning. "If I told you Sam it wouldn't be a surprise would it!" Sunny said with a grin before changing the subject much to Sam's frustration. They went and played some football with the twins. Sam kept asking if it was time for the surprise over the next few hours but Sunny would just smile mysteriously and say "not yet" They had dinner with both sets of parents and still there was no sign of the surprise. Once dinner was over their parents got the cards out and Sunny suggested the two boys go for a walk. "The wait is over Sam, it's surprise time!" Sunny said with a grin and led the way out of the guesthouse down towards the beach. It was a warm evening and the moon was out casting its silver sheen over the sea. It was quiet with the sound of the waves gently lapping at the sand as Sam followed Sunny along the beach. "There!" Sunny said pointing up the beach towards something Sam couldn't see, "That's what we're here for!" Sam followed Sunny with absolutely no idea of what the surprise was going to be. Both boys quickened their pace slightly as they made their way towards where he'd pointed. "Look Sam!" Sunny said enthusiastically pointing towards a pile of sand that seemed to be moving slightly. Sam had no idea what he was looking at until Sunny gave him more of an explanation. "So sometimes we get turtles coming in and lay their eggs here. It happens a lot this time of year and my Dad did say tonight was a good night to check. This one has already buried itself but more might be coming. See if you can see any beaching from the sea!" Sam waited with Sunny as they both scoured the shallows of the sea hoping to see movement.. "There!" Sam said excitedly as he saw a turtle come to shore. He held his breath slightly as he watched it flop softly up the beach and then burrow down slightly into the sand. After a while it began to lay its eggs. Sam was spellbound by the process which seemed to take hours. He felt strangely emotional and touched that he'd been able to share the experience with Sunny. It was like there was something magical in the air that might. Sunny felt the same it seemed and Sam noticed he stood very close to him. Their hands briefly touched before Sam recoiled slightly in shock. "Sorry!" He said to Sunny who shushed him as they watched another turtle come up the beach. Then some people Sunny said were volunteers who protected the eggs and helped create a local sanctuary for the turtles turned up. At this point it was starting to get late and Sunny suggested they went back to the guest house. Sam was a bit disappointed to leave the turtles but it had been an amazing evening. Something he'd never seen before in his life and he was sure he would remember it for the rest of his life. The boys walked along the beach in silence with Sam thinking about what he'd seen. He hadn't known what sort of surprise was being planned but he was really pleased Sunny had let him find out for himself rather than telling him in advance. "Sam wait a minute!"" Sunny said, breaking Sam's contemplations just as Sam started to walk off the beach towards the path to the guest house. Sam stopped and turned back around to look at his friend. "Everything okay Sunny?" He asked curious as to what Sunny was doing, Sunny was quiet for a moment then opened his mouth and nothing came out. He took a deep breath and tried again. "I just wanted to say I really liked showing you the turtles and it was really nice to have you here with me." "I really enjoyed it, Sunny, thanks for showing me. It was...special," Sam said blushing slightly at the use of the word special. It was true, it WAS special. He just felt embarrassed saying so. He turned to walk off again but Sunny took him by the arm to stop him. "Can we just sit down for a moment on the beach?" He asked "Yeah of course!" Sam wondered what Sunny wanted. He seemed to be acting a bit weird and Sam wanted to know why. Saw sat next to his friend in silence and enjoyed the sound of the sea as its waves lapped at the sand. The stars twinkled above and there felt like there was something in the air. Probably just the emotion of the turtle visit but Sam definitely sensed something. "I don't know how to say this Sam. But since you came into my life I've been really happy," Sunny said, breaking the silence. "Um that's good, I've been happy too," Sam replied wondering where this was all going. He had been happy since he arrived here. He enjoyed spending time with Sunny and was pleased to hear that Sunny was happy to spend time with him as well. Sunny broke the silence again. "Sam.......look at me," he said. Sam turned to look at Sunny who had an unreadable expression on his face. Sunny looked into Sam's eyes and then moved slowly forward. Then to Sam's complete surprise their lips touched. Sam was too shocked to do anything but sit there and let Sunny's lips do their work. Their lips were pressed together for a few seconds before Sam pulled away as his self control came back. "Was that your first kiss?" Sunny asked Sam with a shy smile. Sam didn't know how to process what had just happened. Sunny had kissed him. A boy had kissed him! What did all this mean? He felt like he was on autopilot as he simply replied with a "Yeah it was, what about you?" Sunny giggled. "Well not really Sam! Remember I've had things other than lips touching my lips! If I kissed you again though would you mind?" Sam wasn't sure, he'd enjoyed the kiss but was worried what it might mean for them. Sunny was a friend and he hadn't thought of him as any more than that. However Sunny looked so nervous and so desperate for him to say yes he went along with it. "I don't know Sunny, why don't you try?" Sam felt he'd covered himself with that sentence. He put it all over to Sunny to decide what to do next. " Okay I will! This time open your mouth and let me stick my tongue in. That's proper kissing!" Sunny said, grinning seemingly oblivious to Sam's uncertainty. He leaned forward and Sam did as he was asked. Their tongues and mouths intertwined and Sam let Sunny take the lead with the kissing. As their tongues and saliva melded together Sam felt a surge of adrenaline. NOW he felt like he was being kissed. He relaxed into it and let his body take over. He felt Sunny's hand start to roam over his back and down towards his bum which he squeezed gently. Sam wasn't sure how long they were kissing for. He felt like he drifted off into a different world until a rickshaw went past on the road beeping its horn noisily. This brought him back to earth and he broke away from Sunny. Sunny smiled broadly at Sam who smiled back "We should get back," Sam said. He'd have happily stayed kissing Sunny but the rickshaw had brought him back to his senses. It was late and it was dark, he didn't want his parents coming to try and find him. Neither boy said anything as they walked back to the guesthouse together. Their parents were still up playing cards and Sam hoped his face didn't show what he'd been up to. He needn't have worried as both sets of parents were engrossed in their game. The boys said goodnight and went up to their rooms. Outside of his room Sam turned to Sunny and smiled nervously. "Thank you Sunny, I really enjoyed that," he said, not specifying whether it was the kiss or the turtles that he was referring to. Partly because he didn't yet know himself. Sunny leaned forward and kissed Sam on the lips gently. "I enjoyed it too, see you tomorrow!" He said grinning as he pulled back. Sunny walked back to his room and went inside. He threw himself on his bed and lay there in bed smiling to himself. He'd finally kissed Sam and it was everything he'd wished it was. While he'd told Sam that it was fun messing around with boys and it didn't have to mean anything, for Sunny it did mean more and he hoped it did for Sam as well. A few rooms up Sam lay on his bed unable to sleep and process what he'd done. He'd been kissed by a boy. A boy he liked but he was feeling very confused about the whole thing. Would things change between them? Was it just the emotion and excitement of seeing the turtles that had led to kissing Sunny. What would happen now? He tossed and turned with sleep taking a while to come.