Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 09:56:27 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part 6 - Chapter 22 W.A.R. Part Six - Commencement Chapter Twenty-Two -- Another Day at the Park (a.k.a. The Last Chapter) by Jeff Wilson The first few moments of consciousness when you first wake up can be a little confusing. Alarm clock isn't going off. You vaguely think that you remember something or someone waking you, but you quickly forget what it was. Your arms and legs are tangled up with the most beautiful creation that God graced his planet with. Your head is resting on his shoulder, and with every breath you inhale the scent of his hair. Your arm has managed to find its way across his chest, and you can feel him breathing gently. If you put your hand in just the right place, you can feel the steady beating of his heart. Your leg straddles his hip. Your thigh brushes against his. Your foot is resting on his shin, and your toes subtly play with one of the buckles on the only thing he's wearing, the cast on his leg that he's had to live with in one form or another for months. You can't wait for the day when he doesn't need it anymore. You know that he's never going to be completely healed. You saw what happened to him. You would give your own leg to take away his pain on that day. You know he's lying when he says that it didn't hurt that bad. Why does someone so beautiful choose to be with you? You wonder about in quiet times like these. You need him like oxygen. Any day he's been away from you has made you feel like you can't breathe. His presence gives you life. You're a different person when he's with you. You're more confident. You're stronger. What could he possibly be doing with a guy like you? How could you ever be so lucky? He knows everything about you. You've tried to hide things from him before, but it's pointless. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows your thoughts, your fears. He knows all the bad things you've done to him. He knows all the times you've lied about being with him to cover your own sorry, scared little butt. But still, there he is, lying next to you sleeping without a care. You've sworn that you're not going to hide anymore. But each day brings its own little challenges. Everyday, you find yourself denying your love almost out of habit. You hid for so long. You knew you weren't going to lie forever. You knew it was all going to come out. In a way, you're glad that it did, but it's still scary. You were always the scared one. He was always the one who wanted to shout it from the roof tops that he loved you. He knows every square inch of your body. There's not a single part of you that he hasn't explored. You don't have anything left to hide from him. He's been inside you. You've felt him as no one else has. He has chosen to save his body only for you. He has many friends, but you are his only lover. Only you know what it's like to have him in your body. Only you know what it's like to feel his arms around you. Only you know how it feels to have him bring you to the culmination of your humanity. He has been so gentle with you. He has always treated your body with respect. Even in the throes of his passion, when he's driven your body to the point where you've felt you couldn't possibly go any farther, he has always thought of you first. You were both little boys, only seven years old, when you met. The first thing he ever told you to do was shut up. You loved him right from the beginning, though you had no idea what he would eventually become to you. When you were boys, you played together like brothers. As you grew older, he became closer than a brother. You struggled to figure out your feelings. As your feelings became clear, you were amazed to discover that he felt the same way. You remember how he made you feel just by being around you. You remember how it felt all the times he hugged you. You remember the first time he kissed you, or rather, the first time you kissed him. It was one of the few times when you were braver than he was. You remember the first time he made love to you. How it felt to be completely naked with him and to know that you were going to give your body to him. You remember the anticipation you felt as he prepared to enter you. How he stopped to ask if you really wanted to do it, how carefully he treated your body. He's been a man in the fullest sense of the word with you. And he's treated you more like a man than anyone else in your life. He stirs a little bit. You know that he's beginning to wake up. You love to watch him sleep, but you wait with anticipation as he begins to wake. As beautiful as he is when he's asleep, it's not his only body that you fell in love with. You anxiously wait for the moment when he'll open the bluest eyes in the world and look into your green ones. His mind is becoming conscious. He blinks a few times, taking a minute to put his night's sleep behind him and preparing to face a new day. He turned his head and smiled. "Hey..." He said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Hey, yourself." I replied, rubbing my hand gently up and down his chest. It felt neat to feel the slight trace of hair that was beginning to sprout up over his sternum and around his nipples. I moved my hand up to his face and felt the roughness of his chin. "You need to shave." I said, smiling. "Don't worry yourself, youngster." Brett replied. "I'm sure you'll be a man someday." I turned him ever so gently and then thrust myself hard right into his butt, causing him to yelp and jump up out of bed. "That's all the man you need right there." I laughed. Brett stood there rubbing his butt and laughing. "You don't mind that I'm getting hair on my chest now do you?" He asked. "Brett, I wouldn't care if you had antlers coming out of you head. I love you, okay?" Brett laughed. "I know you love me, but I just mean that if you want me to shave it..." "Dustin shaves everything but his pubes. He says it itches. Why should you suffer when I think you look great the way you are?" "If you want me to..." "Brett, I like it. I think it makes you even sexier than before. All I ask is that you keep it presentable." I said, smiling. "So, are you going to get up or stare at my hairy butt all day?" "I like staring at your hairy butt all day." I replied. I really couldn't think of anything that I'd rather do. "Well, I'm taking my hairy butt to the shower, so if you want to see more of it you're going to have to come with me." Brett said, slipping his boxers up his legs and covering himself. "Show's over in here. Next showing, three minutes from now in the bathroom." I sat up and threw my legs out of bed and down to the floor. I rubbed my eyes but it didn't make anything less blurry. Everything close was clear, but the farther things got, the harder they were to see. I found my glasses on my nightstand and slipped them on, then everything was clear. I stood up and started to look for a pair of shorts to wear before I went to shower. "Have I ever told you that you look sexy with your glasses on?" Brett asked. "Yeah." I replied. "Why don't you do me with them on?" Brett walked to me and hugged me from behind and whispered into my ear. "Because I think you look even sexier when you aren't wearing anything at all." Brett lightly scratched my belly between my belly button and on down. I about melted. "And because we have to go." Brett abruptly stopped his gentle scratching and walked away. I almost fell on the floor. "Come on. We'll save water if we shower together." He said, unbuckling the straps on his walking cast. "If you help me I won't have to wear this thing." I found a pair of shorts and pulled them on. But after what he'd done to me I might as well have not put on anything since it was pretty obvious what I had underneath the clothes. I was his crutch as we walked across the hall and locked the bathroom door behind us. As gave his shorts a tug down to the floor, his dick bounced up and slapped his belly and we laughed. We got the shower started and washed up quickly together. After we dried off, I put my contacts in while he shaved. I wouldn't have to shave for a few more days thanks to genetics. We returned to my room and changed into our clothes, then headed to the kitchen to eat. "Did they leave already?" Brett asked. "We didn't miss it did we?" "No. It doesn't start until eleven o'clock. We have plenty of time. They always go early." "Well, let's eat and get a move on then." Brett replied. I poured a bowl of cereal for each of us and we ate quickly. Then we cleaned up and were on our way. In a few minutes, we arrived at our destination. Brett had some trouble with steps still, but not as much as he used to. We walked inside the church and I immediately felt uneasy. Dave walked up to us and brought us to sit with mom. "I'm surprised you decided to show up." Mom said. "I told you I'd only do it if Brett came with me, and here he is." I replied. "And I promise to be good." Brett said, winking. "Oh dear..." Mom said, worried. I noticed that a lot of people were looking at us and whispering. I felt even more uncomfortable. David joined us as the service started. I know that Pastor Carl saw us, I could see him frowning when he noticed me sitting with Brett. The service went the way every other service went, with songs of praise and times of reading scripture and all that. Then Pastor Carl's sermon began. He said the usual stuff about the downfall of our society being caused by sinners. It was hard to listen to that stuff with Brett whispering sarcastic remarks in my ear all during the sermon. When the sermon ended, there came the praise and thanks time. Mom had wanted me to be there for this moment. She squeezed David's hand and then stood. "I have something I'd like to say. First of all, I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers over the last several months. You have sustained me and my family in ways that you cannot imagine. The Lord knows your names and will surely reward you in ways that I cannot." Mom sighed heavily. "The reason I came here today... Well... As you can see, my son is with me. The last time he was here, I did something to him that I had no right to do. I told you all that he is a homosexual. I had no right to tell you that. I hadn't even talked to Billy himself about it. I was more scared to discuss it with him in private than I was to discuss it all out in public with you. I came here to apologize to him. I also came here to apologize to Brett. I outted him as well. And while they've forgiven me for my stupidity, I felt that I had to apologize publicly. Thank you." Mom started to sit down, but Pastor Carl returned to the pulpit. "Wait Paula..." He said. "I can't let you sit down without telling you that you're making a very big mistake." "No Carl, I made my mistake when I stood up the last time. I let you talk me into doing something that I shouldn't have." "No, I was trying to talk you into obeying the Lord. Now we can all see what happens when someone doesn't follow through with God's laws. Your son's sins have corrupted you and your entire house. And now you have brought not only him, but also his homosexual lover into the house of God." "Carl, I've had good experiences here. I didn't come here to fight." "Paula, with all due respect, you brought the fight with you. I do not speak of homosexuality lightly. I lost my own son to that vile, filthy behavior. Everyone knows the struggle I went through. I did the right thing, though. I got that sin out of my house. I had to cleanse my own house before I was able to speak to this congregation about it. I would not ask you to do something that I wouldn't do myself." "I will not throw my son out because of something that he has no control of." "Then I cannot help you, Paula. The sins of your son are on your hands as well. And I cannot allow you to continue to bring your sin into this house any longer. You have to make a choice. Whose side are you on, Paula?" Mom stood there for a moment, reflecting on everything that she had been through. That church where she had met her husband, where she had made so many friends, and had learned so much. "Whose side am I on? Not yours, Carl. Not yours. Let's go boys." Brett, David, and I stood up and walked with mom down the aisle. Some of the people there refused to look at us. Some stared angrily at us. And a few said that they would pray for mom as she walked past. When we made it to the door, mom took one last look back at the congregation, and then walked stoically outside. "You okay, mom?" I asked. Mom sighed. "I don't know Billy. I... I just don't know..." "You don't have to feel bad, Paula. The guy's a jerk." Brett said. "Brett... You don't understand. I've lost some very good friends today." "I don't think so." I replied. "If those people hate you because of what you said, then they weren't your friends anyway." "That's easy to say, Billy. But it's still hard." "You can always come to my church and become a happy catholic." Brett replied. Mom laughed. "Do you still go to church Brett? Surely everybody knows about you and Billy." "Billy's been to my church more than yours." Brett admitted. "Billy!" Mom said. I stuttered. "Well... I... You see... He makes me go..." "Well I don't want you to go to hell, Billy." Brett laughed. "Well boys," Dave said. "I'm going to take your mother home." "Wait..." Brett said. "I just... Well... I wanted to... Thanks." Brett had turned a deep shade of red by the time he had stumbled through his thanks. Mom smiled and put her hand on Brett's shoulder. "No. There's no reason for that. I treated you like a monster because you love my son. I was wrong, and I'm sorry, Brett." "So what happens now?" I asked. "I don't know, Billy. I don't know what the future is going to bring anymore. That money your father left for you will help you. All I know is that I can't give you thirty-six thousand dollars, but I'll be here to help you however I can. You will always have a place to call home. Both of you." Mom kissed me on the cheek, and then gave Brett a kiss on the forehead before walking with Dave to the car. "Wow..." Brett said. "Yeah..." I said. "She kissed me." Brett said, watching them drive out of the parking lot. "I know..." I said. "You want to go get something to eat?" "I guess..." Brett said, still lost in thought. We walked to the car and I drove us to Janet Rush's diner. The place was always crowded on Sunday, and a day before the Fourth of July holiday made it even more busy than usual. But since I was a regular, they got me a seat pretty quickly. Brett and I enjoyed our lunch together and talked to a few of our old classmates as they came in and out of the place. After we finished dessert, Bobby sat down with us. "So, how're the love-birds today?" "Never better, Rush." I replied. "Sarah Fucking Taylor is here." He said. We looked over at the table he jerked his thumb to, and sure enough there she was with her parents looking through the menu. "Your mom will let anyone in here, won't she?" Brett said. "Yeah, we even let you in here, Reilly. Besides, they tip better than you do." Bobby laughed. Sarah looked over and noticed us. "Oh great..." I said. "Here she comes." Sarah walked to our table. "I would think that you would want to be seen with better company, Robert." She said. "Did you hear something? A shrill wind?" Brett laughed. Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad I won't have to deal with your kind of people anymore." "Our kind of people, Brett!" I said, laughing. "Yeah, I don't think they have any of us queer folk at Dartmouth, Sarah." Sarah sighed irritated. "You only wish that you could go to a decent college instead of Pitt. But Dartmouth only takes the best, not the runners-up." "I didn't know your daddy was on the board at Dartmouth too." I said, holding my anger in check. "What's that supposed to mean?" "You know exactly what it means." Sarah sneered. "I earned everything I achieved at that school, Billy. I didn't have a dyke teacher looking out for me." I laughed out loud. "No, you just had a teacher, the principal, and the school board president." "I can't help it that you weren't smart enough to be on my level, Billy." I knew I was letting her get to me, but at that point, I didn't want to keep my temper in check. "You know, now that we're out of school there's no reason for me to not tell you exactly what I think of you..." I said. "Billy, don't..." Brett tried. But it was too late, I was already determined to let her have it and I ignored him. "...You fucking bitch. The only reason you were a cheerleader, and prom queen, and valedictorian was because of your fucking father over there." "That's untrue!" "Hell, you can ask him! Ask him why he made that ban on same-sex couples at the prom! You think that little class-rank provision was just put in there for no reason? Ask him why he wanted to suspend me. During finals! Fuck, ask him why Mr. Hartley is going to be principal. You know, the one teacher who screwed me out of a grade and saved your sorry ass at every turn!" "None of that is true!" Sarah screeched. "Daddy would never..." "Oh, and does daddy know that you smoked pot and fucked half the football team after the Homecoming Dance?" Bobby asked. "Robert!!! You... You... ARGH!!!!!" Sarah screamed in frustration. Then she ran right out the door, followed by her concerned parents. Mr. Taylor gave us an angry look before he walked out of the building. We waved at him. "That felt good." Bobby said. "Your mom doesn't look too happy though." Brett said, noticing that Mrs. Rush was standing behind the counter looking like she was ready to kill her son. "Did she really fuck half the football team?" I asked. "Yeah." Bobby replied. "You didn't, did you?" Brett asked. "So, nice weather today, isn't it?" Bobby replied. "Oh, Bobby..." I sighed. "Tell me you disinfected afterward." Bobby laughed. "I used protection. I don't need any little Rushes running around just yet. If it makes you feel better she was a bad fuck. Anyway, I've got to get back to work. Keep in touch, guys." "You too." I replied. "I want to represent you when you're playing for the Steelers." "I thought you wanted to do trials." Bobby laughed. "I'm versatile!" I replied. "He is." Brett whispered. We laughed. While we were sitting there, Brett's cell phone started to ring. "Hey, it's my brother." "You have a brother?" Bobby asked. "Hey Jimmy-James..." Brett said. I explained to Bobby. "He's his dad's son." "Oh... Cool. I never knew he had a brother. I've got to get back to work. Mom's gonna kill me." Bobby walked back to the counter where his mom was indeed very pissed at him for chasing Sarah away. "Okay, buddy... See ya later." Brett turned off his phone and looked at me. "You want to go back to Buffalo next week? It's Jimmy's birthday." "Are you sure I'd be welcome?" "Why wouldn't you be?" "Well I did kind of call your dad..." "Oh for... That was months ago, Billy. He knows you didn't mean it. Just like he didn't mean to get you all riled up. Come on... I'll even let you drive." "Will I have to take a bus home?" "If you piss me off enough." Brett laughed. "Sure. I'll go. Only this time we aren't sneaking around." Brett dropped me off at home to change clothes while he went to his house. I would walk over to meet him later in the evening, but in the meantime, I walked over to Dustin's house. Dustin was outside working on his bike when I got there. "What's up, Dusty?" I asked. "Clouds, ceilings, and hard-ons, Lefty." He replied. "You still trying to get that thing running?" "Yeah. Your boyfriend fucked it up real nicely." Dustin stopped working and sat on the ground. His face and hands were covered with dirt and grease. "I got my driver's license, finally." "That's good!" I replied. "Yeah. Borrow a car for a few hours..." "You stole that car, Dusty." I reminded him. "I was bringing it back." "You never learn, do you... I guess Mike must not have been too mad at you if you're back together." Dustin laughed as he wiped his hands off on his shorts. "We're not 'together,' Billy. We just have fun together. You're the one who's together. I don't need that relationship shit." "What about Emily?" "What about her?" "Wasn't that a relationship?" Dustin laughed again. "I never even got to touch her boobs." "But a relationship is more than just sex, Dustin." "Well, we weren't fucking, so what was the point of being together?" "Joey used to fuck everybody he could too, Dustin." Dustin scowled. "Fuck Joey." "I'm sure you would if he was still around!" Dustin laughed. "No. He'd want to be the top. But he's a traitor anyway. He ditched us. He ditched his kids. There's no excuse for that. If I fuck a girl, I'll use a condom." "You should use one for what you do, too." I said. "You're just jealous." "No I'm not. I'm happier than I've ever been. I love Brett. I wouldn't trade what I have for all the sex in the world. Are you really happy with what you're doing, Dusty?" Dustin stared off into the distance for a minute, then he looked at me. "You'd be just like me if Brett wasn't around. You get it where you can, Billy. All I know is that I'm happy when I'm fucking. I wish my dad hadn't ruined it for me. I wish I'd have known how fun it could be a long time ago. Did you know they have chatrooms on messenger just to meet for fucking?" "Yeah. You're not going there now are you?" Dustin just smiled at me. "You don't know what you're missing." "Oh Dustin..." I sighed. "Well, as fun as this has been, I have to get going." "Got a hot date?" I asked. "As a matter of fact, I do." Dustin replied. "It's a guy from Brownsville. He just graduated just like us." "Sounds nice." I said. "I suppose you're just going to go over there and fuck." "Billy, you make that sound like a bad thing." Dustin said. "How many guys have you fucked now?" I asked. "Umm... Well... There's Mike... Sean... Dougie... Umm... That guy from Washington... That old guy I met from New Stanton..." "Nevermind..." I said. Dustin laughed. "Okay. I'm going to get going." He stood up and offered me his hand to shake. "Please be careful." I said, shaking his hand. "I don't want to lose you, Dusty." "You won't, Lefty. I know you think I'm being reckless, but I just... I guess I really like fucking. I didn't think I would after what happened to me. But I'll be careful, okay?" "Okay." I said. "I didn't carry you out of the woods up there so you could go and fuck yourself to death." "I'll be fine. See you later." Dustin looked back from his door and waved at me before heading inside to get ready for his date. I walked back up into the woods. At the top of the hill, there lay the tree that Brett had crashed into and Dustin had chopped down. Near it there lay the remains of the burned up stump where Dustin had almost died. There was too much history in those woods. I walked down the hill and into the back yard of Brett's new neighbors. They were a much younger family than the Foxes had been. They had a couple of kids and they were planning to put a pool in the yard somewhere. I walked through the yard and on to Brett's back porch, and walked into the house. Dr. Reilly was sitting in the kitchen at the table staring out the window. She looked like she had been crying. "Are you okay, Jen?" I asked. She jumped when she heard me and wiped her eyes. "Oh!! Hi Billy. Oh, I've been better. So, are you going to go with Brett up to his brother's party?" "Yeah." "That's good. I don't want him going up there all alone." She looked out the window and sighed. "I don't want him to be left all alone, Billy." "I'll never leave him, Jen. He'll be fine. And he'll get over your not liking his dad. He's starting to understand how you feel. He doesn't mean to be a jerk to you." "I know. He can be a brat sometimes. I wonder sometimes if I was too protective... I can't protect him like I could before. That's what I was thinking about when you came in. I've done my best to protect him. But, it's so hard to let him go now. Ever since he wrecked that bike, I've been so crazy worrying about him. First he breaks his leg, then he goes off bringing his father back into our lives. It's hard to let him be his own man now." "You wouldn't be a mother if you didn't worry about him." "I love him, Billy. I know that it's time to start letting go... He's always going to be that little boy to me. I'm so worried about him." "Jen, you don't have to worry about him. He's the strongest person I know. He loves you, even if he acts like a brat sometimes..." Dr. Reilly smiled and more tears formed. "Billy... You're spectacular. How did my boy get so lucky?" "I'm the lucky one. I've got the greatest guy in the world, my mom turned out pretty cool, and you're looking out for me too. What more could I ask for?" "Thank you Billy. You're turning into quite a man. Take care of my boy, Billy. He's a handful, that's for sure." "You're starting to sound like my dad." I replied. "He used to always tell Bret to take care of me." "If you take care of each other, you'll be just fine. Even if I'm not around to help you." "Now you're really starting to sound like him. Is everything okay?" Dr. Reilly sighed. "I'm fine. Brett left a little while ago... I think he'd really appreciate your company. I'm not exactly sure where he is." "Did he say anything about where he was going?" "No, he just said he needed to think and took off in his car." "Oh... Okay. Everything is going to be fine, you know." "Go to him. And Billy, thank you so much." "I love you Jen." I said. "I love you too, Billy." I walked from Brett's house down the road and then down toward the river. If Brett was going somewhere to think, I had a pretty good idea of where he would be. It was a warm and sunny day, the perfect summer weather. I walked down to the little park by the river. The grass was so green and freshly cut. The water of the Monongahela River was actually blue instead of its usual green or brown. I passed Brett's car in the parking lot and found him sitting on our park bench. He was wearing a pair of old jean shorts, a black t-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses. He had his leg propped up on the bench as he watched the boats and barges of the busy river. He didn't notice me as I walked up to him. "Are you okay, Brett?" I asked. Brett snapped out of his deep thought and finally noticed that I was there. "Huh? Oh... Hey... What's up?" He asked. He moved to make room for me to sit down with him. "How's ol' Dust Pan doing?" He wiped his eyes under his sunglasses discreetly. "I don't know about him, Brett. He's acting like an idiot." "Well, Dustin has to make his own choices, Billy. You can't stop him if that's what he wants to do with his life." "I just don't want him to get hurt. This all started when Em dumped him." "It started long before that. I think his being with Emily just delayed it. And really, he didn't really care that much about her if he was screwing Mike." "I just feel bad for him. Do you think we'd be like him if we weren't together?" "You think we could do it on this bench and anyone would notice?" Brett asked out of the blue. I laughed. "What?" "Exactly. See, I think I'd be just like him. I like fucking even more than he does. I'd have probably fucked him myself by now. I always say that you're the best thing that ever happened to me." "What about me?" I asked. "You? Heh... Without me, you'd be a virgin closet case planning his wedding so you could pretend to be a good little hetero." "Well, you sure fucked the good little hetero out of me, didn't you?" "Yeah, I turned you gay after all. You seemed to enjoy it, though..." Brett laughed. "So what are you doing down here?" I asked. "Oh, watching the world go by." He replied. "Tell me what's wrong, Brett." I insisted. "Well, mom has a brain tumor. She says it looks pretty bad." Brett said, looking out at the river. "Oh... I knew something was wrong." I said. "You did? How?" Brett asked. "The way she was talking. Like the way my dad was." "She said they'll be able to operate, but she'll need radiation and all that shit." "She'll be okay, Brett." "You don't know that. Anything could happen... She could..." "She won't." I interrupted. "It's okay to be scared. I'm afraid too." "Do you remember the time we sat here on the day of your grandma's funeral?" "I remember." I said. "That was so long ago. But I remember it like it was yesterday. This is a nice place to sit and think. You said you love me for the first time here. You kissed me for the first time here." "Yup... A lot of good memories on this bench." I replied. Brett took of the sunglasses and looked at me. The sun was beginning to set and it gave his brown hair a golden look about it. His eyes never looked more blue. "Yeah... And I know we've been talking about being together forever a lot. But I can't think of a better place to ask you... Billy... I... I love you. Will you..." "Yes." I replied. "But I didn't even finish..." "There's nothing in the world that I want more than to be with you every single day for the rest of my life, Brett. I want to be with only you for the rest of my life." "So you want to marry me? Or whatever it takes to be with each other forever?" "I do." "Wow... That's cool." As the sun set behind us, we kissed each other tenderly on that old bench on the bank of the river. "I love you, Anthony Brett Roberts." I whispered after our lips parted. "I love you more, William Aaron Reilly." Brett replied, smiling and then kissing me again. Brett put his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head against him. We sat there for a while, the light of the day slowly fading. We didn't know what the future would hold. At that moment, it didn't really matter. There was no one in the world who I would rather face the future with than him. I loved Brett, and Brett loved me. That was enough for me. The End Well, what a journey. First of all, I would like to thank you, dear reader. Thank you for sticking with me through over 80 chapters to make it to this point. I would like to thank you for reading. Thank you to everyone who wrote to me. Your words of encouragement meant so much to me. I loved reading your thoughts on the story. I apologize that I was unable to answer some of your letters over the last few months. Rest assured that I read them and they encouraged me to finish this story up during a very difficult couple of months. When I started this story, I had a few things in mind that I wanted to do. I wanted the story to be as true and real as possible. Something that you could relate to. Billy's just an ordinary boy. Brett's not a super stud. Nobody could be perfect. Billy's temper and fear... Brett's spoiled... Dustin's jealous. Every character had their good and bad points about them. I wanted the story to be about a boy who happened to be gay, not a story about a gay boy, if you know what I mean. I hope I achieved that. I also always intended to give you a story, not a soap opera. I couldn't keep this story going on and on forever. To me, that's not fair. I couldn't do that, and I wanted to give you an ending that was as satisfying as possible. But yet, there are still some issues, as life is prone to bring. Dustin's still kind of lost. Dr. Reilly had some bad news come her way. But the real story has always been the boys. Their story is now complete, ending in the very same place it started in the story, on that bench in the park by the river. I've avoided using that bench for a long time since I wanted to use it here, at the end. I've always enjoyed contrasting and reversing issues in the story. Coming back to things and such. I've tried to bring some humor and fun, as well as some very serious and sometimes emotionally draining issues to the story. If you've laughed, cried, gotten angry at me, wanted to strangle any one of my characters, or been turned on (after all, it is nifty...), then I just want to say thank you! You chose to read the big story with the weird little name. For that, I thank you!!! Okay... So what's next? Well, a break for me. I've got a few ideas lined up for a story or two. AND... I have the outline for a story about a certain red head. It won't be another WAR. It's about a dozen chapters or so set about two years after the end of WAR. So, you'll find that in the college section eventually. If you're on my group page, you'll find it there first. It's not written yet, and I'm not releasing it until it's all finished. So don't look for it until after summer. So once again, I just want to say thank you. This has been an incredible journey for me. We've taken two 13 year old kids and watched them grow through good and bad times into 18 year old young men ready to take on the world on their own. I'm very proud of this story, and I thank you for sharing this experience with me. Thank you so much! Jeff Wilson