Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:32:17 +0000 From: Tommy Evans Subject: Uriel and Jon:Growing Up chapter 24 Disclaimer: The following story contains fictitious and sexual acts between characters. If this offends you in any way, please DO NOT READ IT. This is all a work of fiction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Max and I spent most of the few summer nights reaming relaxing and I tried to take him back home on the days that I worked. We limited the sleep overs to days where I didn't work early or when I was off the next day, and well weekends. We developed a very strong bond. After the event at the park, he didn't really try to mess around anymore either. In fact the shared showers were a thing of the past and there were no kisses. Our hands met from time to time but that was it. Neither of us talked about it and neither of us brought it up. My guess was that he might be a little shocked still about what happened and he was growing up. With the school year approaching max was starting to get those back to school nerves. He kept saying he wanted to go on an adventure or a trip. The weekend before school was back in place, he came over on his bike on a late Friday night. I was doing some cleaning and cooking some dinner, microwaveable of course. When the door opened, he knew the code to my garage opener, he smiled and came in. "Hey" he said. "Hello" "I'm staying the weekend" he announced. "O okay. Glad to hear" I said. "If its okay" "Yeah. Just in time for dinner" "Yes. I'm hungry" he said. He looked a little taller, not much, just a hint. He also was filling in. he had put on a few pounds. Nothing too bad, my guess was that he was around 130lbs. He helped me get the dinner table set and waited until I sat down to sit with me. We served ourselves and then he smiled. "When are you going to cook real food?" he asked. "I already cook real food. I was just lazy today" I said. "O ok. Hey, uh...my bros acting weird" he said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well...I found a bong in his room" "O you did?" I asked. "Yeah I asked him about it and he kicked me out and shut the door. He's in there alone...or he's outside and comes home late" "O...he's back at it" I said. "Shouldn't you do something?" he asked. "No...we haven't talked since that day" I said. "Well it was only a few weeks ago" "Yeah...I know. So you excited about school?" I asked. "no dude. I'm not. Can't you like take me away and save me?" "you're funny" I said as we ate. "I hate Jon" he said. "Dude...we've talked about this" "yeah...but still. Its just not fair how he treats me" "Life isn't always fair. Trust me" I said. "Aaron when you were my age...what was it like for you?" "Man...that was a while ago. It was fun though. I wasn't lucky like you. I was bored, alone most of the time." "Yeah that's true. I have you right" he smiled. "Yes you do. So what are you going to do now that you're going back to school. How am I going to see you?" I asked. "Simple. On the weekends. Every weekend" "O daing it. Can't get rid of you huh?" I asked. "No dude. Never" he smiled. We finished up dinner soon after that and after washing the dishes we decided to go play some hoops outside and maybe take a dip in the Jacuzzi at night. Even thought it was super hot, the Jacuzzi was still fun. I don't know why. After 2 hours of shooting the ball around we went inside to change into some swimming shorts and we made some fruit smoothies and hit the hot tub. We were relaxing in there watching the stars. "Man, I feel like we're the same age" he said. "Yeah...right" I laughed. "Dude, can I ask you something?" he asked. "Yeah anything" "You used to love my brother right?" "Yeah like a brother. He was one of the best brothers" "TO you. Not to me" "Well, now he treats us both like shit. So yeah." I said. "Am I better?" he asked. "In your own way yes. He's got to grow up more" "But so do I." "I hope you don't go through the same troubles" "No no. never. Never" "Okay...you promise?" I asked. "Yeah. With all my heart" he smiled. That night we went to bed early and I had to drop him off by noon so he could go back to school shopping. He wasn't very excited about that but he tried his best to stay positive. As we were about to fall asleep, he turned to face me. He didn't say a word. "Sleepy?" I asked him. "Yeah...a little" he said. Then we both got silent again. He was so close to me I could feel his breathing on me. Since we were holding onto each other neither of us said anything. But something took over me, I loved him so much. I went in for the kiss. He was surprised. When I felt his lips he just kind of kept them closed. Then he opened them a little and we kind of kissed. "Good night" I said. "Good night" he replied. But he turned away from me. He did cuddle with me still though. I didn't think much of it. The next morning he looked at me funny when we woke up. He went to the bathroom and when he came out he said he had to go home early to change and go to the mall. I felt him a little different, but nothing major. When I dropped him off he said bye as usual and I went on with my day. Something happened though. For the next 2 weeks I heard nothing from him. No texts, no calls, no emails, didn't even see him online on his video game system. I wasn't worrying because I thought he was just busy with school. I decided to give it some time. Our families didn't really do much once the kids were back in school because my parents got real busy and his parents did too. That made it a little harder for me to even maybe run into him at a cook out or something. I went on with my life for about a month. I gave up on the texts after so many unreplied texts I sent him. I was sad. Maybe even devastated. I didn't know what happened. It was like, we went from great, to not even talking. I was so confused. I played the moment over and over in my head where we kissed. He kind of returned the kiss. Did I push him? Did he change? I just didn't know what to do. I still went over to my parents house from time to time and I had hopes of maybe catching a glimpse of him, but nothing. I kept on working out and working both jobs, I worked a few more hours to stay busy. My parents purchased another lot for a restaurant and they were even busier. After about 3 months of hearing nothing, or seeing nothing of Max I took a sudden decision. I needed out. I couldn't handle these changes I couldn't handle my heart being played with. And, I couldn't handle being alone. I talked to my dad about maybe taking some time off. He agreed that I had to go have fun. I asked my boss at the dealer for a transfer, somewhere fun. He understood and since my dad was now part owner of the dealership, he agreed to send me the Florida branch. I was on my way to a work in florida. In the same city where my dad had the vacation home. We only had visited it a few times as a whole family, most of the time it was just my parents alone. I wanted to make it fast. I didn't want to give myself the chance of changing my mind. Within a few days I was packed and ready to go. My mom was a little sad, but I promised to call and see her through webcam. She also made the decision that on the holidays, they would come up there instead of me coming down. In a blink of an eye, I was in florida. Well not literally but it felt like it. I did everything so fast. I spent the next months partying, A LOT. I had money, I had some sort of power, I thought, and I had earned a nice body. I had changed. did I like it, yeah. Didn't think I was suited for this life, but I was. The clubs were fun, the girls were fun too. To my surprise I didn't really sleep with any of them. Sure I made out with them, sure I touched here and there and they touched too...but I some how had self control. Never did I mess around with a boy or a guy in that time. Weird. I guess it was my own way to block the past out of my head. I partied, I worked, I drank and I kept working out. I guess most would say my life was amazing, but little did they know that I was lonely. Even in the mansion with all the things I had, the service people were my family. I didn't even treat them as servants as most people would call it, I treated them like my family. They talked to me like my parents would. I saw them like siblings in a way. For Christmas and new years my family did come up here and it was fun. To them it was weird to have holidays in the sun and on the beach, but I was so into it. My 22nd birthday was...well...out of control. I threw a birthday bash unlike anything else. To the point where, I woke up, in the pool with a go kart I had bought. Of course my parents got the news of this, and...just like I had arrived in florida, I was on a plane back home a few weeks later. It felt...like a dream. Those few months were awesome...but my parents thought I was insane and probably going to become an alcoholic. They even thought I did drugs, but I didn't. When I landed back at home, I felt like shit. But I knew it was for the best. I had gotten those few crazy months out of the way and I guess it was back to reality, if there was such a thing. I got in big trouble with my parents and my dad said I needed to earn his trust again. I was thrown back into my 2 jobs. Now this time, I had more responsibility at the dealer, and I managed my own restaurant. I was going to shoot myself, I thought. In late march I found myself on my way home in my new car. I had become very used to buying new cars every year. This time, it was an SUV. I got myself a tricked out Range Rover. It had all the works. Since I was on the move a lot and carried stuff around, it fit its purpose. Plus, I wanted my dad to see that I was into working and not into partying...not anymore. So I was pulling into my driveway, I was allowed to live back at MY HOUSE if I didn't party, and out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought was Max. My heart stopped. I looked behind me as I got out of the truck. Sure enough it was him. From far away, he looked a little taller, about the same weight, but he had his hair a little longer. Kind of messy and gelled up. He was on a bike. He was wearing some long shorts and a purple t-shirt. He looked at me, right at me. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. Out of nowhere another boy swerved by on his bike and pushed him down. "You think you can call me a bitch and run away?!" the boy yelled. Soon more bigger guys surrounded him. What had he done? Then images of Jon came to my head. I hadn't even thought of him in months. I snapped out of it and ran over to help Max. "Get the fuck out of here" I yelled as I picked up Max and his bike. "Oooh whos this?" asked one of the boys. "Doesn't matter who this is. You either leave, or I will have you arrested" I said. "Chill out man. Just teaching the little bitch a lesson" said the boy who pushed him. Then they rode off. I stared at Max for a while. "You...you came back" he said. He was confused. "yes...and why were you about to get jumped by those guys?" I asked. "I hate that ass hole and he picks on me" he said. I noticed he was thicker. Not fatter. Just thicker over all. He was still as cute as a button though. His voice was a little deeper, but still the sound of a boy. "max...what happened to you?" I asked. "Uhm...I don't know. I grew up?" he asked. "But..." I started to say. He interrupted me. "Can we talk inside?" he asked. "Sure" I said. We headed to the garage where he put his bike away, and then we went inside. I had updated everything. Everything was new, modern, and darker. He was surprised. I wanted to erase the past...thought this would help. He looked around for a second then sat down on the stairs. "You promised you wouldn't change" I finally said. "Dude, I ... I didn't change" he said. "Well what the fuck man!" I said angrily. "I was going to talk to you and explain but when I tried...you were gone" he said as I looked into his eyes. "Well...I just couldn't stand around here losing my two brothers was just too much" "SO you just leave me? Just like that. Out of nowhere?" he asked. "No...you left me first." I said. "Dude ok whatever your back. For how long?" he asked. "Indefinitely" I said. "OK look. They just want to get back at me because I embarrassed one of them at the park. No biggie. I'm ok" he said as he stood up. "Ok...so...umm...what now?" I asked. "I don't know man. I didn't...think I'd see you again...well not for a long time" he told me. I figured this was the part where he just said bye and we'd go our separate ways. I mean I was used to this happening. I just didn't think it was going to be him who would start doing it to me. But life is full of surprises I guess. He looked at me and then looked outside. "You still have the tub?" he asked. "No. I have a new one. In-ground one and a pool" I said. I had it installed while I was away for when I came back. I guess part of me knew I'd eventually come back, just not this soon. "You have a pool!" he asked. "Yeah." I said. "Can we go swim in it?" he asked. "Uh...I suppose we could" I said. I was still kind of taken back by the sudden change. I mean...a few months back...this was my reality, then it just came crushing down, I left, I partied, I mess up, I come back, and find him again? Just like that? "Can I go see if I got any clothes here? Swimming shorts or something?" he asked. "Umm...check in the little closet by the garage." I said. "Why there?" "I cleaned everything out. Nothing from my past is in my room" I said. He looked confused. "Okay?" he said as he went to look. He came back a few minutes later with a box. "You put my stuff in a box?" he asked. "O yeah" I said. "You tried forgetting about me?" he asked. "What was I supposed to do?" I asked. "No nothing. Just asking" he said. He grabbed his shorts and put the box back in the closet then went to the bathroom. I went up to my room to put on some shorts. I had transformed myself by now though. I was mostly lean. I had SOME fat on my body, but for the most part I was a lean boy. It had taken lots of work. I also got regular tans to stay in good color. When I went downstairs he was in his white muscle shirt, and swimming shorts. I noticed he was still kind of husky. Not fat enough to be fat, but not skinny. He stared at me. "You're really tan" he said. "I lived in florida. I had to stay tan" I said. "You even eating?" he asked. "Yeah, a lot actually. I work out 3 hours every other day" I said. "That's...kind of intense" he said. "Lets go swim" I told him. When he stepped out into the new patio he was completely shocked. I had changed it all. Came with a price tag that was crazy, but I worked a lot. I had a nice pool, had lights and everything. A tall fence, sound system outside to keep me entertained, Jacuzzi, a fire pit, and diving board by the pool. To complete it, there was a water basketball hoop in the middle of the pool. He jumped in and I slowly walked into the pool. "Dude, you changed it all" he said excitedly. "Yeah. Well I had some time on my hands" I said. "So you did this...when?" he asked. "While I was in florida. I made all the plans from over there. Just in case I came back. If I didn't, I'd sell it and make some good money. But I came back" "Wow man. that's all I can say is wow" We played around the pool for quite a long time. When we got hungry I threw some burger patties on the grill and we made some quick burgers. Later at night we sat in the hot tub and looked up at the stars. Our old hobby. We talked about random things, we didn't touch too much on the fact that he stopped talking to me though. Eventually he realized what time it was and jumped out of the pool. "Fuck. I have to go dude." he said. "O yeah. Ok" I said. We went inside the house and grabbed some towels. He looked around for his phone and panicked. "I'll take you home if you want" I said. "What about my bike and my clothes?" he asked. "Well...I'll wash them for you. You can go home with what you have on now" "I'll get your car wet" he said. "No don't trip" I said. I grabbed my keys and we went out to the truck. Through all of the drama of him getting attacked, he failed to notice the new car. When he opened the door he gasped. "YOU have an AWESOME truck." he said. "Thanks" I told him. "Leather seats, wood interior, awesome lights, ooh my butt feels nice and warm" he said as he sat down. I had turned on the heated seat to try to dry him off. "Thanks" I said. "Dude what are you turning into?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You were...simple. Had some nice things...now its like all you have is the best" he told me. "Well, I needed to grow up. An SUV is a good way right?" I asked. "Yeah but damn. This is a sweet ride" he said. When we pulled into his house he turned to look at me. "See you...soon?" he asked. "Well your bike is at my house" he smiled. Boy did I miss that smile of his. "Yeah you're right." he said as he opened the door. The window was down though so he stood there on the window. "see you kid" I said. "See you bro. thanks again. I missed you" he said as he walked away. As I pulled out of the driveway I was again struck by life. There standing by the door was Jon. Time, had changed him even more now. He was now a tad bigger, he had a slight mustache, the baby ones where you can see developing, and had an earring. Overall, he was even more ghetto now. He looked surprised though. I didn't know what to do so I instinctively hurried up and left. The one thing I did do was change my number so I didn't expect for him to even contact me since he had no way of doing so. When I got home it took me a second to take all what had happened in the past few months in, I relaxed, and realized life was like this. Things happen. Nothing can be done about it except just live the moment. Yeah, that's what im going to do. I'm going to live and stop worrying about this and about that. Juts enjoy life. I grabbed Max's clothes and some of mine and I threw them in the washer. Then I headed over to the empty room I had in the house. It wasn't empty, it had a bed, a tv, dresser, and everything. Those were empty though. So I decided to put some of max's old clothes in that dresser and in the closet. I figured, if he came back to hang out, I could call that his room. Why not? The next few days passed by relatively fast. Specially since I was on my new motto, enjoy life no matter what. I was working out harder, I was going on jogs, I was eating healthier, and I was having fun. Max and I started texting a lot again. In that time being I found a few things. I guess the one that startled me the most is that he had a gf. He told me he had been dating her for a few months now. I didn't have the guts to ask if they had started to do stuff. Kids now a days well they start that at an early age. He asked me if I could please give him a ride tomorrow, which would be Friday, to the movies with his girlfriend. I ended up agreeing to it. I actually had a dinner to go to with one of my co workers so I figured I'd drop them off before the dinner and pick him up after. I wasn't heart broken or anything, if I had learned anything in the past months, it was that I wasn't about to fall in love again. Not for a very very very long time. Max was my little brother. that's it. If he was willing to be brothers again, even after me being gone and him ignoring me, then I was willing to put the past behind and live on. When Friday night came I was actually in a really good mood. I was going to meet with one of my co workers at the dealer. She was very cute, and she was very smart. She had just started and we clicked right away. I don't think we're going to end up dating or anything, but we actually have fun talking. So having a friend I can talk to that is cute, well that's always a plus. At around 5 pm max rang my doorbell. When I opened the door I was a little taken back. He looked so cute. He had done his hair very nicely, was wearing nice jeans, and a nice flannel shirt. "Well aren't you ready for your little date" I said. He kind of smiled and blushed. "yeah...I am." he answered. He walked in and sat on the couch while I went up to my room to finish getting ready. I had to get dressed up in a way. We were going to a nice place so I wanted to look as classy as possibly but also sporty. When I went back down he stood up and stared at me. "Wow. How much money did you spend in that outfit?" he asked. "o I don't know man. What's up with you and money lately?" I asked. "I don't know. You just look, expensive" he smiled. "I...happen to have a very good taste in clothing. And I got this on sale" I said. "Yeah probably on sale at like some rich store for like 500 dollars or something" he joked. "O stop it. Lets go" I said. We headed to the truck and when he got to it he looked confused. "I guess sit in the back so when we pick up your girly she can sit back there with you" I said. "O okay good idea" he told me. "So you have money?" I asked. "Yeah, I brought 10 dollars" he said. "What? that's it?" I asked. "Well I had 40 but spent 30 on games" "Max. you can't go on a date with 10 dollars" "Its just a movie" "What about the tickets. They're at least 7 a person" "Duh. I have 10. I have 3 dollars for my drink" "What about your girlfriends?" I asked. "She pays for her own stuff" he said so matter of fact. I was a little surprised. If they had been dating for a while now, I figured he'd at least now how to be a good boy friend. "Max, you're silly" I said as I handed him 50 dollars. "What am I going to do with this?" he asked surprised. "Spend it. Eat, have fun. Be a good boyfriend" I said. "I am. I talk to her, I hold her hand, and we text" he said. "Okay well today get her some food. And YOU Pay for everything. Like it should be" I said. "Fine. Where are we going?" he asked. I was headed to pick up my date and since he had given me the girl's address I had already set the addresses in the gps and it told me to pick up my date before I picked up his. "I'm picking up my date" I said. "That's why you're so dressed up. Uh...who?" he asked. "A girl I work with" I said. "Where are you going?" "DInner" I said. "You're still picking me up right?" he asked. "Duh of course. Why?" "No nothing." he said. "okay you weirdo. Make sure you tell your gf to tell her parents that I'm driving you guys and that I'm picking you up" I said. "O they don't care. They let her do whatever." "Well that's nice of them" I said. In a matter of minutes I was at my dates door. Max was staring at me from the truck. I didn't understand his sudden change of behavior when he found out I was going somewhere. But he's a kid so I just let it go. She greeted me and then we headed to my car. "Who's this handsome little guy?" she asked as she got in. "It's my little brother. Well he's a family friend, but we're like brothers" I said. "Max...this is Kimberly" I said. "Call me Kim" she said as she stretched out her hand to shake his. "Hi" he smiled. "You guys do kind of look alike" she said. "You're lying Kim. I'm actually cuter" said Max. "yeah you are. So what are you bringing him along?" she asked. "No...I'm actually going on a date with my girlfriend. Aaron's taking us to the movies and picking us up after" said max. "Oh that is very cute. Is this your first?" she asked him. I tried to stay out of their conversation as much as I could since I was the one driving to his gf's house. "No. we've been together for a while now" he said. "Its serious huh?" she asked. "Yeah...kind of" said max. We weren't too far from the girl's house so we were there in a matter or minutes. When I pulled up Max ran out of the car to go get his gf. I did feel just a tad weird. I still saw him as my little guy and there he was going to go get his gf. When she came thru the door Max turned to look at me. I was confused. Why not focus on her. She reached out for his hand and they walked hand in hand to the car. When they got in they said hi and Max didn't say much. Kim did most of the talking on the way to the movie theater. Once we got to the theater Max and I did our little hand shake and they got off. "Behave kids." I said. "yeah of course" said Max. "Have fun" said Kim. "You too. And I get out of the movies at 8" said Max. "Fine. Go have fun" I said to him. For some reason though, he did not look happy at all. What was he trying to tell me? Was he just tired, was he thinking of telling me something? What. What could have made him look so worried, and kind of annoyed. Kim and I headed out to our dinner place. We actually had a great time. We did connect. I found out a great deal about her. She never made me talk, she just had me listen. I didn't care though because I thought it was pretty fun. We did talk a lot and I could kind of imagine us maybe hang out a few more times, and if we kept clicking the way we did we would probably end up together if I pursue it. When it was time to go get the kids again she made a joke about how it was time to get the kids from the sitter's. When I pulled up to the theater, max and his girly were sitting on a bench talking, but they didn't really look like a couple, they looked like friends. I guess you couldn't ask too much from a 12 year old couple. But, then out of nowhere, when he saw us pull up, he kissed her. She looked really confused though. When they jumped into the back seat she kind of looked at him weird. "So how was the movie?" I asked. "It was great" they both answered. Then they started whispering so I let them talk while I talked to kim. I dropped off Max's girl off first. She was closest to the theater. They said their byes and then he came back to the truck. The next stop was Kim's stop. When we got there I was getting ready to leave the car when Max spoke up. "I'm kind of hungry. Can we hurry" "Sure..." I said. Kim just smiled at me and gave me a kiss on a the cheek right before we got out of the car. I walked her to her house. "I had a good time. Now go take care of your little brother" she said as she hugged me. "Will do mam" I said. "See you at work Monday" she smiled. I headed back to the truck and Max was already in the front seat. "So...you guys dating?" he asked. "I don't think so. Not yet at least" I said. "Hmm...cool" he said. "So you hungry?" I asked. "Yeah, you already ate right?" "Yeah, I had dinner. Want me to pick something up on the way home for you?" I asked. "Yeah can I sleep over?" he asked. "Have you asked your mom for permission?" "I don't have to. I'll just text her and let her know" "Well as long as she's ok with it" I told him. We stopped at Burger King to get him some food before we got home. At home we just lounged around and played video games and chatted for a long time. It seemed like we didn't loose that connection. I was able to keep good conversations with him, not simple video game ones. We had pretty smart talks about life, what I wanted to do, what he wanted to do, what his goals were, and what he wanted to be. It was nice. When it was time for bed I had a surprise for him. Well I was going to tell him that I had his room, well the guest room. We were going up the stairs and I stopped at the hallway. He stared at me. "I have a surprise. I figured you'd be hanging out more often here, so I cleaned up and set up your room" I said as I opened the door to the guest room. It was a nice room. It had a walk in closet and its own bathroom so I figured he'd like it. "Woah" he said. He opened the closet and saw some of his clothes, he opened some drawers and he sat on the bed. I sat with him. "Like a second room? Apart from the one at my house?" he asked surprised. "Yeah, do you like it?" I asked. "Like I could live here if I wanted?" he asked. "Well...technically yeah. If you wanted. But I mean im not sure you're parents would be okay with that" "They wouldn't mind if I stayed over on the weekends" he smiled. "Well I don't see why not then" He gave me a hug. We stared into each others' eyes, but he pulled back right away when it got too weird. "thanks a lot bro" he said. "yeah. Now get showered and get to bed" I said. "It's only like 2 am" he said. "yeah, but I work tomorrow at 11am" I said. "O that sucks. But ok" he said. So I walked to my room and headed to my bathroom to take a shower. In there I realized I felt a little odd. Is this what parents feel like? When they leave their kids to do their own thing? I mean he was technically with me in my house, but he was in his room. I wondered how much longer until he opened the doors in the entertainment cabinets in his room and found brand new xbox and play station. 2o minutes later while I was about to jump into my bed he ran into my room. "AN XBOX AND PLAYSTATION?" he yelled. "I figured why not. Didn't want to let you get bored you know" I said. "Dude! I love you" he said happily as he hugged me again. "Now go on. I have to get to bed. Go play, don't go to sleep too late" I said. "Okay 4 am. that's my deadline" he said as he left the room. He did leave my door open and his door open. I heard him play and he must have hooked up the systems online to his accounts because he was talking to someone on his headsets. I felt happy that he was happy. I drifted off to sleep. The next morning when my alarm went off I got up to go check on him. He fell asleep with his headset still on and didn't even get under the covers. Looks like he just knocked out while still playing. I stared at him. So beautiful. Peacefully sleeping and even in his sleep I could see happiness radiating out of him. I went and got ready for work. I hated the fact that I had to drop him off and go work for 5 hours. Such a pain. At around 9 am I tried to wake him up. I was all ready for work and he was such a slow person to get up. I tried once, he kind of woke up. So I went downstairs and served breakfast. Then I want back up and actually had to pick him up out of bed. "Come on sleepyhead" I said. "But I'm so tired" he said as he barely opened his eyes. "Come on. Lets go I'm going to be late. Plus you must be hungry" I said. "Okay okay" he said as I put him down. I noticed there was a tent in his shorts. He looked down, then ran to the bathroom. "I'll meet you downstairs" I said. "Okay" he yelled from the bathroom. Half way through breakfast he looked up and smiled at me. He seemed so happy. "Aaron, can I decorate my room?" he asked. "Yeah man. Sure. Make it however you want." "You serious? Can I put in sound system and computer and stuff?" he asked. "Sure" "I'll ask my dad for money" "don't be silly. Its my house I'll pay" I said. "No. that's too much" he complained. "dude, I have 2 jobs, and work 6 days a week. I can take care of it" I said. "Okay under one condition" he said. "What" I said. "You have to help me choose it and YOU HAVE to use the games with me" he said. "Of course my little man" I said as I patted him on the shoulder. We put the dishes in the sink and then we headed to the garage and jumped in the truck. "O also, you look really fancy" he said. "I have to, I work with business people" I said. "I know. You're so cool" he smiled. I took him home and before he got out of the car he gave me another hug. He was just so huggy today. I felt great. Work felt like it dragged on. But it was a fun job so I dealt with it. I was out in no time. I headed home to visit my parents like I did on most Sundays. We chatted about things and had some good food. I informed my mom that I had not drank in a while and that I was hanging out with Max again. She seemed happy about this. I figured it would make her worry less about me. The next 2 weeks flew by. In my little time off during the week I squeezed in a few trips to the store with Max to choose the things he wanted for his room. He got new curtains, posters, a sound system, lamp, video games, gaming chairs, a dvd player, and a desk for his laptop. He was trying to paint but I told him it would be no good since he was putting up so many posters. When I had time or on the weekend he stayed over to hang out with his new toys and to set up his room. It was now mid April. It was starting to clear outside. Nicer weather, reminded me of the summer days in florida. I was getting used to Max being around. We spent a lot of time on the weekends together. We'd swim, play basketball, cook out and just hang out. Every once in a while he'd bring one of his friends to hang out with us and I didn't mind. I told him one friend was fine, but nothing more. The thing was, he never even mentioned inviting his girlfriend over. It was always his same friend. I didn't pay too much attention to it. I was starting to see him just as a little brother. In fact I felt like a parent sometimes. It was kind of nice. I felt a sense of responsibility. I also managed to kind of keep good friendship with Kim and she visited me quite often. She was still at home with her parents so she found it very relaxing to come visit me and spend time with me at my own place. The thing was, I thought she was cute, but I did not feel the need to date her. It was just, nice to have her around. Saturday afternoon I made plans for her to come have a cook out with me. I figured either Max would randomly show up on Friday night, or on Saturday morning. I had requested this one Saturday off just to have some relaxing time. I figured some time off here and there wouldn't be bad. When I woke up that Saturday I looked at my phone. Sure enough I got a text from max saying he'd be over at noon. I got up and got a few things done around the house and then I defrosted some burgers so I could cook some burgers at dinner. Sure enough at 11:45 the doorbell rang. I opened the garage from the kitchen and in a few seconds max was inside. Boy did I like seeing his bright smiley face. "Hey" he said. "hello. What you up to?" I asked. "Well I cleaned my room , did a project, and got permission to stay over today" he said happily. He walked right in and grabbed a bowl, cereal and milk. He sat next to me. "What are we doing today?" he asked. "Well Kim is coming over today at 5. We're cooking out" I said. "Oh.." he said. "You think you can not walk around in dirty clothes today. Just look nice" I said. "Sure..." he said. "What do you want me to cook for you tonight?" "Hot dogs. And a burger" he smiled. "Sounds good. I'll get some wieners ready" He chuckled a little bit. "Grow up" I said to him as I smacked him. "Ha. Can I have your wiener" he joked. But then I looked at him. The tone of his voice, changed as he said that. The only reason I knew he was joking was because he chuckled a little. But I sensed a little of, sarcasm hidden truth. Could have just been me though. "You are a perv" I said. "Ha. You're a prude" he shot back. "Exactly why do you say that?" "You've been hanging out with Kim and you still haven't smashed her" he said. "Smashed?" I asked. "Yeah. it's a term we teens use" he said. "Teens? Youre 12." I said. "Okay...so what. I'm close to 13" he said. "Sure you are..." I said. "I am! I have proof" he giggled. "Where?" I asked. "In my shorts" he giggled. "O...ok. Then" I said. "Okay well I'm going up to my room. To play" he said as he washed his bowl. I taught him to always wash his plates before he left the kitchen. Unless it was Sunday and it was lazy day. "Hey, remember. Look nice at 5." I told him. "Its only 1pm dude. Do you want to play some games?" he asked. "Yeah I will I'm just going to set up the patio and the grill and stuff" "Okay sir. I'll be in my room" he said as he walked to the stairs. I don't know what it was about him. He just made me so happy. As I was cleaning the kitchen and setting up the things I needed I got a call from his mom. She was extremely happy. She said he's grades shot up in the last month and that his behavior at home was incredible. Cleaning up right away and washing dishes without being told. She told me she had never seen him so happy. I felt really good about this. Finally I was doing something really positive in life. I told her I was just trying my best to help him be a good responsible boy. She cracked a joke about how maybe Jon needs to go through that training again. I laughed, but I didn't say much. She told me she was very glad Max and I had this bond and that she was okay with him spending as much time as he wanted over at my house as long as it didn't get in the way of whatever I needed to do. I finished setting up at around 3. I figured I had an hour to spare. I headed upstairs to Max's room. I found him listening to music drawing something on his bed. I smiled at him. He took the headphones off and smiled. "What are you up to?" I asked. "Drawing some stuff. Trying to design a map for this video game I'm creating" he said. "O that's nice. You create video games?" I told him. "Not yet. But I will when I'm big like you" "You can do anything anytime. Just set your mind to it" "Well I need to go to school for it" he said. "In a way yes. But its never too early to plan things out" "True. Hey, what should I wear?" he asked. "Just some nice shorts and a shirt. I just didn't want you walking around in pjs all day." "I sleep naked" he said. "O...I'll keep that in mind next time I check in on you in the mornings" I said. "O you do...I might want to use covers more then" he smiled. "Yeah..." I said. The dirty comments from him were becoming more and more direct now. I didn't know what to think though. I mean at that age, it is kind of expected. "Don't worry if I ever sleep on your bed I'll wear pjs" he said. "O please do" I said. "Okay well want to play then?" he asked. "Sure" I said. We played some video games on his system for an hour. It was fun. He brought most of his games from home and had a game collection of about 45 games. I know this because he had me help him put them in alphabetical order on his game stand. His goal was to have hundreds. At 4 I told him to go get cleaned up and I went to change into something more presentable. Kim was right on time. I had set up the table outside with 3 plates. When she got there she handed me a pitcher of sangria she had made. "Woah thanks" I said as I grabbed it and set it on the table. "Can I go inside to get some ice for the sangria?" she asked. "Yeah of course. Make yourself at home" I told her. I set up the grill and threw the burgers and hot dogs on there. When she came back out she gave me a hug. "I love how your house is so decorated and nicely done" she said. "Thanks..." I told her. "You're like the perfect guy. Any girl, would be lucky" "Thanks Kim. Now stop being so girly. Help me cook" I said. We had a very close friendship. Kind of like long lost best friends. "Shut up. And yeah before you burn them. You terrible cook" she said. "Thanks...you're my savior" I joked. "So three settings?" she asked. "Yeah Max is here" I said. "When are you going to just adopt him?" "I was thinking tomorrow early in the morning" I said. "Good. I'll go with. You'll need a mom figure for them to let him get adopted by you" she said. "Good. Sounds like a plan." I smiled. Just then he came out of the sliding glass doors. He was wearing a new polo I got him a few days ago. It was light pink. It looked so nice on him. It brought out his caramel skin tone and his beautiful brown eyes. "Max you look so handsome" said Kim as she hugged him. "Thanks you do too. Well pretty not handsome" he smiled. "Spending the weekend with your big bro?" she asked. "Yeah. I love being with him. Can I have some of that red juice?" he asked as he sat down. "Uh honey that's sangria...not for you" she said. "O man. But I love sangria!" he complained. "Well...I suppose half a glass wont hurt him right?" said Kim as she looked at him. "His dad lets him drink a little more. So yeah half a glass is ok" I said. "Thanks." said Max as he poured half a glass. The three of us sat around for a while chatting until the food was ready. Max was very open with my friends no matter who it was and I loved that about him. When it was time to eat he handed out the napkins and served Kim and I our glasses of sangria. "Thanks for cooking" he smiled. "Your welcome" I said. As we were eating I realized we did sort of kind of feel like a family. I pictured myself in the future with maybe a son and a wife. I'd hella lucky if my son was like Max. "So aaron was saying he was going to adopt you tomorrow morning. I figured I'd go along and be the mom" said Kim. Max gulped a little surprised, looked up at me, then her and looked confused. Then he smiled. "Cool, I guess" he said. "What? Not a good idea?" she asked. "Well...I like Aaron like a brother. If he was my dad, I wouldn't have as much fun" he said. "Kid's got a point." I said. "True...I guess those plans are out the window then" said Kim. "No offense though. I love you bro" said Max with a smile. I was still a little taken back by the sudden gulp. Gulps usually mean surprised in a bad way. "So...you guys dating yet?" asked Max. "O no. hon. We're friends. Aaron, he's too nice for me. I need me a bad guy" she smiled. "O well...my bad" I said. "I think you guys are better as friends anyway. Usually when people date they break up and then don't talk anymore. Bad stuff you know" said Max. "aww honey. Is that what happened to your little girly friend?" asked Kim. "No...well kind of...she got mad at me for not hanging out with her. She broke up with me. Thru text message. It was bad" said Max. At that moment I fell like hugging him. I could tell he wasn't sad about it, but the way he explained it, it was just cute I guess. "Aww. I'm sorry. She doesn't deserve such a handsome and interesting boyfriend like you" said Kim as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed. "O come on you're making my lil guy blush" I said as tapped his back. "Well...its ok. I'm over it. I got my bro and my awesome new room" he said. "You have a room here?" asked Kim. "Yeah I gave him the guest room and he decorated it in his own style" I said. "O Gosh. How fun. Can I see after we're done eating?" she asked. "Usually there's no girls allowed, but I can make an exception" smiled Max. The three of us laughed. It was great. After dinner Max took Kim to his room to show her around. They joked around and when they came back they were smiling. "You know your room is the coolest room I've ever seen." said Kim. "Thanks. I love it. I wish I could live here all the time. But aaron works a lot" he said. "Yeah, but see good things like that, get boring if you have them every day" I said. "True...well can I go swimming?" asked Max. "Uh...wait a few minutes. Go play a game or something until your stomach is a little less full" I told him. "I only ate a little" he said. "Yeah...2 burgers and 3 hot dogs...I don't know if that's a little" I joked. "Hey you ate more" he said. "But Im not trying to swim right away" I said. "Fine" he said as he went inside. "You'd make the best dad in the world" said Kim as she helped me clean up the dishes. After that we sat around in the patio chairs drinking some sangria and talking. Just then Max came outside. He was wearing his swimming shorts and a black muscle shirt. Well, I'll call it tubby shirt. "Is it okay if my friend comes over to play outside?" he asked. "Sure honey" said Kim looking at me with a smile. "Thanks for answering.." I told her. "O come on we're outside anyway" she said. "Yeah that's fine Max" I said. In a few minutes his friend came by and they played a little basketball and then they swam. Kim and I just watched them and talked. I really felt like a parent then. We talked about our jobs and we talked about our failed relationships. I had to change jon's name to a girls name, and well a few things around, but I'd have to say he was the most complicated relationship I'd ever have. We talked and watched the boys play and scream for a while until it got too dark. At around 9 she said she was leaving. Max's friend left a little earlier than that and he was trying to dry up by hanging out with us. "Well you boys have fun. I have to get up early tomorrow to go to the stores. Max you stay good ok. And take care of Aaron don't let any mean girls hurt him while I'm not watching" she said. "Will do. I promise" he said. "Well thanks for coming and for the awesome sangria" I said to her. "Thanks for the invite. You both are awesome" she said. She gave us both a hug and a kiss on the cheek. We walked her to the front to her car and watched her drive away. "She's nice. But not your type" said max as she drove off. "O you know my type" I asked. "Yeah. I do" he smiled. "Okay mr match maker. Lets go get you dried up" I said. "Lets go bro" he smiled. We headed to the back yard so I could turn off the lights in the back and when I did, I saw the stars. He looked up with me. I put my arm around him. I liked this new start. It was a fresh start, a fresh life. A stress free life. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks again for reading. Thanks for the patience :D As always, keep the emails coming. I love feed back. There will be more of the story coming soon. -Tom Tommy199212@hotmail.com