Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 14:34:47 +1300
From: bob charles <pennywise3636@gmail.com>
Subject: Washed Up (Gay / Young friends) chapter 20

Washed Up.

Disclaimer:

Warning: this story contains sexual content, contact between young boys,
and other themes that may offend. If the subject matter offends you, is not
to your tastes, or if you are under legal age for your area, then find
something else to read. In the following story all names and events are
completely fictional. Although I may mention a specific location, place, or
person any resemblance to said people, location, or places is completely
unintentional.

Chapter 20:

It feels so good to have such warm loving people to call friends and I feel
so blessed to have them in my life. They have to be the two most wonderful
people on the planet after Pierre of course. They are so generous and
caring, and an absolute pleasure to be around. I endeavour to be as good as
them, because they have helped out so many people without ever expecting
anything in return. One day I know I will get to help them, and I will do
the best I can to repay all the love and kindness they have shown Pierre
and me.

I release Dan and Caleb from my embrace to allow them to go to their hotel
room to get some sleep. It is getting really late now and I can feel my own
slumber beckoning me. Before they leave they both give Pierre a hug and a
little kiss as well, because they want him to feel like he is just as much
their friend as I am. It makes me want to be even more like them, because
they treat everyone equally and try not to leave anyone out, no matter what
barriers are in their way.

The two boys their say their goodbyes for the second time this evening, and
leave for the comfort of a nice hotel bed. I clamber back into bed and
snuggle up nice and tight to my beautiful lover, and lie their gazing into
his bright sparkling hazel colour eyes. I press my lips against his and
give him a nice tender loving kiss, before we both drift off into the land
of nod.

************

As I slowly start to awaken the next morning, I become aware of a rhythmic
slapping noise coming from somewhere within the room. I open my eyes in an
attempt to see where it is coming from, but they are too blurry and out of
focus to work properly. I wipe the sleep from my eyes and then lie there
for a couple of minutes until my eyes come back into focus.

Once my eyes have their focus back, I look over at my lover because the
noise seems to be coming from his direction. Pierre's eyes are firmly
closed though, because he is still in a deep sleep. `If it's not him then
what's making that noise'? I think to myself. It then hits me like a
falling brick. Bastian, how could I have forgotten about him, but what on
earth is he doing at this time in the morning.

I know it's still the early hours of the morning, because the curtains in
the room haven't been pulled closed and it's still dark outside. Well, it's
darker outside compared to what it's like during the day, but there is a
definite yellow aura glowing from all the streetlamps in the city. I can
see the moon shining brightly in the sky, but the glow from all the lights
makes the stars very faint and hard to see.

I prop up my body with my arms, so that I can take a look over in Bastian's
direction to see what on earth he is up too. I am shocked by what I see,
but in no way am I surprised. The boy has his hard little pecker in his
fist, and is pounding away on it furiously. He must be getting pretty close
to his climax too, because his body looks tense and his eyes are clamped
shut. He is sweating profusely and his breathing is shallow and laboured
from the exertion and the sheer pleasurable feelings that are starting to
surge through his body.

The sight of him pummelling his dickie has an instant effect on my own
little wiener, which rises to the occasion. I ignore my boner as best as I
can, because I am not in the mood to play with it. I have already cum in
the last twelve or so hours, so I don't see any need for another
one. Bastian's body suddenly shudders fiercely indicating that he is very
close to climaxing, which I am very glad about because the quicker he gets
off the less likely my hormones will take over, meaning I have to do the
same thing.

"Ahh...! Ahhhh...! Ahhhhhh...! Uuuugggghhhh...! Baiser!" Bastian suddenly
grunts, as an explosion of immense pleasure rips through his body like a
tsunami.

As Bastian's orgasm takes hold of his small frame, he thrusts his hips high
into the air like he is trying to shove it deep into someone's throat, or
something. His body tenses and quivers powerfully from the immense
sensations surging from his dickie and ripping through his body like an
intense shockwave. The boy's dick is twitching hard and uncontrollably,
trying to pulsate out what doesn't exist in his balls yet. His breathing
seems to stop for that moment when his climax is at its peak, which seems
to last a long time.

A loud thud then echoes through the silent room, as Bastian's body crashes
back onto his bed after the peak of his climax passes. The boy gasps for
air, desperately trying to fill his lungs again after the powerful
sensations had taken his breath away. He lies there in a daze, slowly
recovering from the magnificent high he has just had, which has produced
this strange sort of mystical aura encompassing his sleek naked body. His
twitching dick is still getting gently fondled and manipulated by his soft
tender fingers, while he tries to keep those awesome feelings going for as
long as he can.

I still can't believe that Bastian just did that, especially since it
hadn't been all that long since he had his last orgasm. The boy must enjoy
it that much that he does it all the time, but I don't understand why. I
mean I know that it is a truly powerful and magical feeling, but I get
similar feelings just from being with Pierre so why would I want to play
with myself all the time just to get those sensations? I suppose that in
his case he doesn't have a lover, so the only source of such pleasure is to
do that, but still, how often does he need to do it?

I try to ease myself back down onto the bed, so that Bastian doesn't notice
that I have been watching him, but I'm not quite quick enough and he
catches me. He gives me the biggest cheesiest smile he possibly can,
knowing that I have caught him at it again, but he is not concerned about
it in the slightest, and to prove that he gives his still hard member a
couple of tugs.

I give him a smile back, because there isn't much else I can do in a
situation like this. Then I lie down on the bed and focus my attention back
on my sleeping angel, who I notice is no longer sleeping. I am looking
straight into his beautiful hazel eyes which seem to have a mischievous
twinkle to them. I'm a little disconcerted with the look in his eyes,
because I remember what it led to the last time he had that look in them.

"Bastian was at it again, wasn't he? I can tell because you're hard as a
rock now," Pierre whispers, while he reaches down under the covers and
gives my pecker a couple of tugs.

I shudder in pleasure, but push his hand away from my throbbing member. I'm
not in the mood to be played with today, because I just want to snuggle up
with my lover and enjoy the simple pleasures of our magical
relationship. He understands my mood and stops playing with my dick, which
I am pleased about. I latch onto him and hug him tightly, now that his hand
is free from my crotch and I can snuggle into him closer.

It feels so nice and wonderful hugging Pierre. The love we each feel for
the other seems to seep out of our bodies and flow into each other like a
magical river. The most beautiful moments I have with him are when we are
like this and it is something I will never get sick of. I love these tender
gentle moments much more than anything else, because I can feel his true
love for me and nothing else.

Pierre gives me a tender loving kiss, which increases the love we feel for
each other tenfold. It is so amazing and magical, and I can literally feel
the sparks fly when our lips meet. He means everything to me and our love
is pure. I wish moments like these could last forever, being in a tight hug
while kissing lovingly, so no tongues. It is pure heaven, something I'm
glad that I'm going to be able to experience for the rest of my life.

Bastian watches us kissing and cuddling enviously, because he knows we have
something special between us. It is something the boy would like to
experience himself one day, because this trip to hospital has shown him
something he didn't expect. Of course he never expected to meet anyone like
us, or Dan and Caleb, but the biggest thing he has learned through this is
that his friends aren't who he thought they were.

He is gutted that none of his friends have bothered to come and see him
while he has been in here, because he thought that they cared about him. It
now seems like he was wrong about them, which upsets him a little more. The
bright side to it is that he has made new and better friends with us, Dan
and Caleb, but he knows that he is going to have to learn English to be
able to converse with us properly.

"Pierre, désolé de vous interrompre, mais pourriez-vous essayer de
m'apprendre l'anglais?" Bastian asks, while trying to draw our attention
away from kissing.

"What did he ask?" I whisper to my lover. I actually understand a little of
what he has said, but not enough to know what he is asking. All I have got
from it is that it is something to do with English.

"He wants me to try to teach him English," Pierre replies.

"Pas de problème, je peux vous enseigner l'anglais, mais pourquoi?"
Pierre then asks the boy.

"Merci, c'est parce que je veux vraiment être en mesure de vous parle
correctement," Bastian replies.

"Je comprends," Pierre says, while I give him a confused look because I
haven't been able to follow the conversation.

"I asked him why he suddenly wants to learn English, and he told me it's
because he wants to be able to talk with us properly," Pierre explains
after noticing the confused expression on my face.

"Ahh... cool, maybe you can teach me French at the same time!" I say a
little too enthusiastically, which makes me come across as desperate.

"And us too, we could do with learning French," Caleb says as excitedly as
I had. His sudden voice causes us all to jump, because no-one had noticed
him or Dan come into the room.

Once Pierre has recovered from the fright and understood what Caleb has
said, he sighs. His work is cut out for him now, but what is worst for him
is that he knows we haven't got anywhere near long enough to learn the
languages. He explains this to us, Bastian included, but I don't think he
got the responses he expected; we are all still chomping at the bit to try
to learn the others' language, even despite the fact we may not have long
enough.

Pierre sighs again knowing that he isn't going to get out of it, which he
isn't too disappointed with because it is going to benefit him in the long
run. It's just the amount of work he has ahead of him now, and what's worse
is he still has all his rehabilitation work on top of it. He is starting to
realise how impossible this mission is going to be, but it's not going to
stop him from trying to achieve the impossible.

I think that if any of us had thought about things properly we would have
realised Pierre's workload is already more than enough and not got him to
do any more; we have all forgotten that Pierre is likely to need extensive
rehab because of having had brain surgery. The main reason we have all
forgotten is because he looks completely fine. He moves his upper body with
no problems now, but we have yet to see him try to move his lower half,
which is the part we have never even thought about.

We take it for granted that Pierre will be up and walking again like
nothing ever happened, but in reality that is not always the case. All his
other injuries have subsided enough that they are barely visible, if they
are still there at all. The nasty gash to his head and where the holes were
drilled during surgery are the only injuries which still remain clearly
visible, but even they are nothing like they used to be. All in all he
seems to be healing fine, which is why we have disregarded any need for him
to undergo extensive rehab.

Pierre sets straight to work in trying to teach Dan, Caleb and me, French
along with trying to teach Bastian English at the same time. I can tell
straight off that this is going to be difficult on my lover because I'm the
only one with any knowledge of the other language out of the lot of us and
that is only very, very basic words and sentences. Dan, Caleb and Bastian
have virtually no knowledge of the other language, which means Pierre has
to start with the real basics.

Pierre works hard all morning, teaching us the others' language. The only
time he stops is when the breakfast lady comes in with this morning's
slop. Once we have finished eating, he continues with his lessons. We start
to get the hang of the absolute basics by the time lunch comes around, but
we all know that we are nowhere near understanding the other language
properly yet.

Once we have finished the horrid stuff that they call food here which is
our lunch, a doctor arrives to start Pierre's rehab. The first thing he has
to do before he can start the rehabilitation program is to ascertain what
Pierre can and can't do. He starts by testing my lover's reflexes, which he
only half passes. His upper body as we all know is fine, but it seems his
lower limbs have been affected by his injury and subsequent surgery.

Pierre's reflexes on his lower half are a lot slower and weaker than the
doctor had been expecting, but it is still of no real concern to him at
this point in time. The next thing the doctor checks for is for limb
movement. What he is looking for now is how easily Pierre moves his limbs
and also his range of movement. Again the upper half of his body passes
with flying colours, but the lower half is becoming a real concern.

Pierre doesn't seem to be able to control the movements of his legs and
toes, almost like he has forgotten how to do so. His legs seem to flail
around like they have a mind of their own, which is frustrating the hell
out of him. He can't understand why his legs aren't doing what they are
supposed to be doing, but the worst thing is that they seem to be doing the
opposite to what he wants.

The last test the doctor performs on Pierre is a strength test. He gets
Pierre to try to lift weights to test the strength he has in his upper
body, which the doctor is quite impressed about. He can lift a decent
amount of weight for his age and for someone who has been bedridden for as
long as he has. The only strength test the doctor bothers with for his legs
is to see whether he can support his own weight.

Pierre fails that test miserably, because his legs fold up underneath him
the moment they take his weight. The doctor does a good job in catching him
before he crashes heavily to the ground, which has Dan, Caleb and I
releasing a huge sigh of relief. We were all scared shitless, when we saw
him collapse, that he was going to severely hurt himself again, but
thankfully the doctor was in good control of the situation.

It does not look good for Pierre, because his legs have failed every single
test that they have been put through, which I instinctively know means he
has a long hard road ahead to get back to normal. Dan and Caleb look
concerned about Pierre's ability to recover from this as well, but it is
Bastian who looks the most worried, because he has the least knowledge
about what Pierre has gone through.

After having put Pierre back into bed, the doctor starts to record his
notes while trying to make a plan of attack to get Pierre back up and
running. The doctor goes over his findings with us, which are all pretty
straightforward. His upper body is fine, but they are going to have to put
together an extensive rehabilitation program in order to get his legs
working like they should.

Of course the doctor doesn't tell us all this in plain simple English,
instead he tells us a whole lot of doctors' mumbo jumbo which we don't
fully understand. After a while we manage to get him to simplify what he is
telling us, but it is nothing more than what we already know. He then goes
over a basic plan for how they are going to get Pierre up and walking
again, but it sounds like it is going to be very time consuming and hard
work.

The first thing the doctors are going to have to work on is getting Pierre
to be able to stand again, which means his brain will have to rewire itself
because it is something he is going to have to re-learn. The doctor isn't
too concerned with the lack of strength in Pierre's legs because it seems
to be more that he has forgotten how to stand. That part is pretty evident
by the way he can't control his leg movements.

The doctor likens it to being like a baby again and having to learn how to
use his legs. One good thing is that the doctor isn't expecting Pierre to
learn how to crawl first, but it still might come down to that if he can't
control his legs enough to stand. I can see Pierre is disheartened by all
this, because he was hoping for a quick recovery and now realises that it
isn't going to happen.

I hug Pierre tightly to remind him that I will help him through all this,
while the doctor continues to tell us his game plan. He hugs me back while
we try to listen to what the doctor is telling us, which isn't much, but he
seems to like rabbiting on like it's the most important information that we
will ever receive during our lives. I know we should listen more, but most
of what he says sounds like pointless crap, which Pierre will pick up on
when the time comes for it.

The doctor finally finishes and closes his clipboard full of notes, before
turning and heading to the door. He gets stopped in his tracks when
everyone else suddenly pours in through the door, which delights Pierre and
me. It has been so long since we have seen some of them that I was starting
to forget that they were even around. Before we can see them all, the
doctor goes through Pierre's situation with them, which again seems to take
an eternity before he has finished.

Once the doctor has gone the others come over to the bed and fill us in
with what has been happening. François hasn't been in to see us for a
while because he has been crook with a cold and thought it best not to be
in a hospital while he is sick. Manuel's dad on the other hand has been
busy catching up on work, because he has a company that sells stuff on the
internet and he was starting to get behind on his orders.

Alice has been working extensively with not only Callum and Manuel, but
Sarah as well. The results are very noticeable too because they all look
much more refreshed and invigorated, almost like they have all been
cleansed and their demons have gone. Sarah's improvement is the most
noticeable, which surprises the hell out of me because I had never noticed
how much she had bottled things up inside. I am thrilled to bits seeing
them all full of life and I'm hoping it won't be long before Alice has
sorted Pierre and me out as well.

Mum is the only one who we have seen regularly, but even she has hardly
been in for the last couple of days. She has been trying to help Manuel's
dad with his work, along with tending to François trying to get him
better. On top of that she has been trying to keep Manuel and Callum
occupied when they haven't been with Alice, and that has been a task and a
half in itself, because all the boys want to do is come and see Pierre and
me.

At the first given opportunity Callum and Manuel both sprint over to the
side of the bed, barging aside anyone who is in their way, nicely of
course, so that they can both hug me and Pierre. Manuel for the first time
even hugs Pierre with no hesitation, which impresses us considerably,
because it shows how much Alice has helped the boy out. He doesn't give
Pierre a timid and apprehensive hug, no, he gives him the tightest most
full-on hug I've seen him give in a while.

Manuel seems to show no signs of the fearful scared little boy he was
before towards Pierre after the incident. He seems to know now that he
won't hurt my lover and that everything is going to be all right, no matter
how tightly he hugs him. Pierre responds by hugging the boy back, making
sure to reiterate that there is nothing he can do to hurt him.

The hugs last for a while, before Callum gets sick of standing whilst
hugging, so he jumps onto the bed and wriggles himself into me. It is a
tight squeeze with three of us on the bed, but it soon becomes even more
compact when Manuel also climbs onto the bed with us. Somehow we all manage
to fit, with Pierre and me in the middle and the two youngsters each
snuggled into one of us as close as possible, trying to stay on the bed
while balancing on the edge.

It feels good having my little brother cuddled up to me again, especially
while I'm still snuggled into Pierre. I can tell he is also thrilled to
bits at having Manuel wrapped around him, because he hasn't been able to
get the boy this close since he ended up in here. The brotherly love we
have for the two younger ones is clear for anyone to see, because we make
no attempt to get rid of them; instead we just hold them tighter.

Dan and Caleb also embrace each other in a hug, while they look at us all
snuggled up in the bed, and they give us the most fitting smile for the
situation. They both look a little envious of us, but I know that they have
a similar thing with their friends, that part was evident when we saw them
getting interviewed on TV. I think they both would love to have a little
brother for themselves, but they will have to make do with the friends they
have.

The good thing for Dan and Caleb is that they seem to have this habit of
making some special friends, who most people would never have. The friends
they have would do anything for them without ever needing to be asked. I
know this because Pierre and I would love to help them after all the
support they have given us. The other thing I have noticed is that we all
seem to connect on some deeper level, but not the same level as I have with
Pierre, or they have for each other.

The level we connect on is similar to the connection I have for Callum, but
still not quite the same. It is hard to describe, but what I do know is
that we are going to be friends for life. I also don't think we will have
any problems fitting in with the rest of their friends, if we are ever
lucky enough to meet them, because that is the level of connection I feel
from them. It is strange, but there does seem to be this magical aura about
Dan and Caleb which makes it almost impossible not to like them.

Pierre's rehabilitation is slow but steady. Well, it seems to be slow, but
the doctors are all impressed by how quickly he seems to be coming
along. Alice and the French psychologist seem to be in cahoots together
like some kind of conspiracy, while they both closely monitor the impact
our bond has on each other. I can see them taking lots of notes all the
time while Pierre is undergoing his rehab.

In between Pierre's rehab sessions, Alice continues with her therapy work
with us, which means that our day is pretty full-on. On top all the other
work, Pierre still tries hard to teach Dan, Caleb and me French, as well as
teaching Bastian English. By the end of each day we are all so exhausted by
the day's events that we crash into a deep slumber. Dan and Caleb sometimes
struggle to get themselves back to their hotel room because of how tired
they are.

The days roll by pretty quickly, because we are so busy now that we
constantly lose track of time. Before we know it Pierre has been in
rehabilitation for a good week and a half and is now able to stand
unassisted, but still can't walk more than a step. The sad thing about this
day is that it is the day that Bastian is finally cleared to go back
home. He has been so wonderful to have around that we all know that we are
going to miss the little bugger immensely now that he can go back to his
regular life.

The thing that still saddens me is that in all the time Bastian has been
with us, not once has one of his friends come to visit. His parents
generally came in every second night, because they still have his siblings
to look after at home and don't like to bring them into the hospital. That
isn't helped by the way the room is always pretty full from people coming
to see Pierre and me.

Despite the limited time that Pierre has had to try and teach Bastian
English, the boy has picked it up surprisingly well and can now converse
with us well enough that he doesn't feel like he is getting left out. The
day he is finally discharged is quite a strange one, because he almost
fights with the doctors to allow him to stay. He doesn't want to leave
because he has become attached to the whole lot of us, and he isn't sure
whether he can convince his parents to allow him to come and visit us.

Bastian's parents don't come until late in the afternoon to pick him up,
but he is still fighting and not wanting to leave even by then. The boy is
bawling his eyes out, gutted at the prospect of not being able to see us
again, even despite us trading contact details so that he can always stay
in touch. Bastian's parents do the wise thing after seeing how attached
their son has become to us, and promise that they will drop him off each
day after he has finished his homework, so that he can spend some time with
us.

That helps out heaps, because Bastian now knows that not all is lost and he
is definitely going to be allowed to see us again. His parents are actually
pleased to see him care for others so much, because they have been a little
upset that none of his so-called friends have come to see him, but they
know from his reaction that he now has some really good friends, so will do
everything they can to ensure things stay this way.

Before Bastian leaves he has to go around absolutely everyone and give us
all a hug. Surprisingly he also gives us all a kiss on the cheeks as well,
including all the adults. I now realise just what an impact we have had on
the boy, and to be honest I am happy about it, because he shows how much he
truly cares without feeling any sort of prejudices about it.

Bastian's tears are the only ones shed in the end, because we know that we
are going to see him again, and regularly. We don't feel half as upset
about him going as we did before. We had been trying to stay strong and put
on a brave face for him beforehand because we didn't want him to feel any
worse about the situation. But we were all not too sure whether we would
ever get to see him again, so hearing his parents agree to let him visit
lifts all our spirits, because we do love the little tyke and he is so fun
to be around.

Bastian finishes up with his hugs and kisses, and reluctantly follows his
parent out of the room for his journey home. A sombre sort of mood washes
over the room once he has gone, because it feels like we have lost one of
us; even though we know he will be back, it still feels that way. Callum
and Manuel seem just as disappointed as us that he has gone, because they
have been spending more and more time with us, so have come to know the boy
reasonably well.

It takes a while but the mood does lift and we get back to day to day life
again, including force feeding ourselves the slop they serve us as food. We
feel envious of Bastian at this point because we know that he is going to
be enjoying his first decent tasting meal for the first time in ages. It's
bad enough knowing everyone else gets to eat nice food while we have to put
up with this crap, but it tastes even worse now knowing that Bastian
doesn't have to eat it any more.

Dan and Caleb stick around for another week and a half to two weeks,
because they want to be with us until Pierre is fully recovered and ready
to leave the godforsaken place. But they have been with us for over a month
and they need to go back to school and continue with their normal life,
despite not wanting to. Their parents are the ones putting the pressure on
them, because they have already missed enough school this year, so they
want them back as soon as possible.

The day that they decide that their folks are right and that they had
better go is the most gut wrenching day for all of us, because none of us
want to see them go. They had waited till late in the afternoon to tell us,
because they felt that Bastian deserved to be with us when they broke the
news, but Pierre and I had that sinking feeling all day that we knew
something like this was going to happen.

Dan and Caleb decided that now was the time because they had witnessed
Pierre's recovery reach the point where they knew he wasn't going to be in
here too much longer. He is now walking with relative freedom, but not
quite a hundred per cent yet. His legs are still not quite moving freely,
meaning he staggers still more than walks, but with each passing day he
gets better and before long he should also be able to run again as well.

So Dan and Caleb figured that it is the right time to go now, even though
they would prefer to stay till we got out of hospital. Their parents win
through though and we have a tear-filled farewell. They are almost too
scared to hug anyone because they don't know if we will let them go. Well,
more to the point they don't know whether they will let us go.

In the end they do give us all a hug and a kiss, and despite no-one wanting
to let them go, we do all behave ourselves and not make it any harder than
it already is. It feels like I'm losing someone close to me for good, even
though I know they will still be around and will come to visit when they
can. It is almost as hard as the day when Pierre got ripped out of my life,
but this time I know it is not forever, which helps.

The room is filled with people crying when Dan and Caleb say their final
farewells. I promise them that we will somehow find a way to visit them
when we go back to New Zealand in order to visit dad's doctor. They give me
a weak smile hearing that, but it is still as hard on them to leave us like
this, as it is for us seeing them go. They then turn around and head out
the door, deliberately dragging their feet, but they don't look back,
despite the overwhelming urge to do so, and disappear.

That is that, and now I'm left with pretty much the family I have
acquired. I am still grateful that Bastian is now part of my life too, and
I know he is thrilled to have us as friends, but it is still not enough to
fill the massive void that Dan and Caleb have left following their
departure. They have got such a strong hold on all of us, which we all feel
like we have lost the most important people to come into our lives. Well,
not quite true because for me that is still Pierre, but they are important
enough for it to be devastating seeing them go.

The mood following their departure is a lot like that which you would
expect to find at a funeral. It takes us a couple of days to finally be
able to continue like normal without them. The result is that Pierre's
rehabilitation is a waste of time over those couple of days, because he
doesn't put in the effort required to help him recover. The doctors aren't
concerned though, because they have noticed how big an influence Dan and
Caleb had on us, so they had expected their departure to have this sort of
effect on him.

Alice works hard with us over the two days directly after Dan and Caleb's
departure, in order to try to bring us out of the depressive slump we have
all gone into. She knows how we feel though, because the boys have had as
big an impact on her as they have on everyone else. The thing she is
indebted to them the most for is the way they helped Pierre and me out so
much. Without them she knows that we wouldn't be at the stage of recovery
that we are now.

Well, it is more me, because Pierre still can't remember any of the
traumatic events which have plagued his life, and it's starting to get to
the point where the doctors think that he never will. They tell us that he
may eventually remember about his parents if the right sort of events come
up, but they doubt he will remember the incident which landed him in
hospital this time around.

That is a good thing, because I don't want Pierre to ever remember what
happened back at the hotel. I know that if he does it will come with some
psychological issues like I have had. The main thing I want for him is to
remember about his parents, because I feel their memory is important to
Pierre and it will also help him to get the closure he needs following
their untimely deaths, all over again.

At the moment, each time his parents are mentioned while he is within
earshot, his emotions crumble into despair, because he doesn't remember
anything about it. He has to grieve all over again for the loss of his
parents and yet he doesn't truly understand that they are dead. He doesn't
remember anything; even after we tell him what happened to them his mind
erases it instantly.

It is frustrating for not only us, but him as well, because his mind just
does not want him to remember about his parents' fate. He gets himself
flustered and confused each time we explain to him about his parents, which
leads to him crying his eyes out while he goes through the whole grieving
process again. It has got to the point that in order to save him from
further suffering we make sure that we don't bring them up while we are in
the room with him.

The hardest part for us is when Pierre suddenly remembers about his parents
and wonders why they haven't come in to see him. When he gets like this we
have to try to tippy toe around the subject and go onto something
else. Most times it works, but every now and then he keeps pressing us
about them, which inevitably leads to us telling him about their fate and
him ending up in tears. It is hard on all of us, so we hope like hell that
sooner rather than later he will remember about them, but we aren't willing
to wage a bet on it.

Once Alice has finished bringing us out of the depressive state we have
been in following Dan and Caleb's departure, she announces that she too is
going to be leaving. She feels that her work with us is done, and the rest
of it is up to us to do, although she would love to hear how we are going
in the future.

She has helped me out with my issues immensely and I now feel confident
that I can go back to living a normal life again, but there is still one
major obstacle I have to overcome. The good thing about that is I know from
what Dan told me that it's not one to rush. I will know when the time is
right, and then nothing will stop me, but it is still something I want to
get out of the way, just so I can say I'm cured.

Alice has one last surprise left for us though, before she leaves. It turns
out that she has been working extensively during the night with my French
psychologist and another one from the hospital as well. The other
psychologist has been the middle man for them, because he can speak English
as well as French, which would have made him the ideal candidate to have
dealt with me from the start, but he doesn't know how to deal with children
because he isn't a child psychologist.

The three of them have been working long hours into the night trying to
compile as much information as they can about empathic connections. They
believe that Pierre and I have this special connection, so have been
talking with doctors from around the world who have dealt with it. The
records which the doctors have compiled from their time dealing with us
have also been shared with the top doctors in the field, who all agree that
we do have this special bond.

Once they have collected all the information, they have then had to sift
through it and try to pull out all the important and relevant parts for
us. They have then retyped everything and collated it into a booklet for
mum and us to go through. She tells us that it is important we understand
the ins and outs of our connection, because there are good and bad sides to
it. She has tried to simplify it as much as she can so that we can all
understand it, but of course if we have any questions we are to get in
touch with her directly.

The booklet, if you can call it that, is a lot bigger than I expected. It
is more like a full sized novel than a booklet, which surprises me because
I didn't expect that amount of information to be available. Alice hands it
to mum who promptly flicks through it. She explains to us that there are
also a few examples of other people with empathic connections, which she
thought was important to include. She has taken out all names for privacy
reasons, but she says that we should be able to work out who one of the
examples is.

It turns out that she had included Dan and Caleb's example in there,
because of the amount of research that has been done in their case. Their
research is on-going, and Alice has asked us whether we would be willing to
allow the same thing with us. We both agree without any consultation,
because we feel that the more that is known about the condition the more
doctors can help others with it. Well, probably more of a case of giving
them better information than being able to help them, but you get my drift.

Alice's departure is nowhere near as emotional as it probably should have
been, but I think that's why she left it till now to give us the
information she has been secretly collecting. It has had the effect of
deflecting our attention from the fact that she is leaving onto something
completely different. So when she says her final goodbye and gives us all a
friendly hug, we think nothing of it until much later when it finally sinks
in.

By the time it has sunk in that Alice has gone, it is miles too late to do
anything about it. I feel gutted and guilty about the fact we didn't have a
proper farewell for her, but I think this is how she planned it. I would
have liked to have given her a proper thank you for all the work she has
done for us, because she has achieved heaps and our family is so much
closer and happier because of what she's done. She obviously wanted to go
without a fuss and she certainly got what she wanted.

By the end of the fourth week of Pierre's rehabilitation the doctors are
happy enough with his progress to allow him to be able to wander around of
his own free will. This means that they remove what he is still attached to
like his IV drip and the catheter. The catheter's removal is only on the
basis that he can learn how to use the toilet again before it is time to go
to bed, otherwise he will have to be hooked back up to it to avoid any
potential accidents.

Our first trip to the toilet is frustrating to say the least. I go with
Pierre, because after all he is my partner and I want to be there for him,
not only that but I have also been in the position of having to learn how
to pee again. Pierre stands in front of the urinal for ages trying to force
himself to go, but nothing comes out. I do my best to try to get him to
relax, but he is so desperate to be able to prove he can do things on his
own that he doesn't listen to me.

Pierre's legs start to feel weak and struggle to keep him upright, before
he even produces a little droplet of pee, so he gives up for the moment and
we head back to our room and into bed so that he can recuperate. I can tell
that he is annoyed with himself at not being able to go to the toilet, so I
embrace him in a reassuring hug and begin to massage his back. He will get
there before the day is done, I just know he will. What I need to get him
to do is relax and not stress so much about it.

It takes a little time but I do get him to relax, which almost causes an
accident in itself, because he relaxes too much and has to try stop himself
from peeing right there and then. He panics a little as he feels the
gateway start to open and quickly reaches under the sheet and takes a firm
hold of his pecker, clamping down hard on the tip to ensure he doesn't leak
any pee. I then help him out of bed and we head back to the toilet as fast
as we can.

I get Pierre lined up in front of the urinal and he releases his grasp on
his dick and stands there. Nothing happens which causes him to try to force
it out again, but this time I'm more onto it and know what to do. I start
by tenderly massaging his shoulders forcing him to relax, which works a
treat, as I feel the tension dissipate in his body and a small stream of
pee starts to trickle out of my lovers dick.

The more I massage his shoulders the less tension I can feel in him and the
stronger the stream of pee becomes. The look of relief on his face is
evident, because it means that he is going to be catheter free for the
remainder of his stay in hospital. I know that it is the source of his
relief, because the stream quickly dies due to there being no real need for
him to go to the toilet other than to prove he can.

He shakes off the remaining drops of piss, before washing his hands and
then giving me a big hug to thank me for my help. To emphasise how grateful
he is he also gives me the most tender loving kiss square on the lips. Oh
how magical the kiss feels and all I want to do now is just kiss him
back. It is pure heaven kissing Pierre, but I am brought back to reality
when I notice that I'm having to support his weight more and more.

I break off the kiss and make sure I have a proper hold of Pierre's body so
that I can assist him back to the room and bed. It takes a lot of effort
for the two of us, but we get there safe and sound and I have him back in
bed. He has almost full control of his legs now and can also run, a little
disjointedly, but it is running nonetheless. The main thing the doctors
have to work on now is his stamina, because he is still tiring out very
quickly.

It takes another two weeks for Pierre to get enough stamina back that the
doctors are happy to release him. He does lots of work on treadmills and
cycle machines to improve his stamina and fitness again, but when he is
using this equipment he also has lots of monitoring electrodes placed all
over him. They are more there as a precautionary device to ensure he
doesn't overdo it, but they also want to monitor how his body and mind are
coping with the strain.

He does very well in these tests, which makes the doctors even more obliged
to discharge him much earlier than they normally would for patients who
have had the same complications from brain surgery that he has had. The day
they finally allow us to leave is a day we never thought would come. Pierre
is pretty much fully healed now and his hair has grown back, covering the
area where the holes had to be drilled during surgery.  He is in the best
shape that he is likely to be in whilst still in the hospital, so it has
come time for us to leave.

I have never had to be in hospital for so long when there has been nothing
wrong with me. The doctors had decided that I was to stay while Pierre was
there to ensure he had the best chance of a full recovery. The empathic
connection we have is the reason they wanted me to stay, despite the fact I
was healthy enough to leave ages ago. I didn't care too much because it
ensured I was going to be able to sleep with him every day, but when it
came to meal times I really do wish they had discharged me.

That is the thing we are both looking forward to most after finally being
discharged. We don't want to go anywhere or do anything until we have had
some real food again. It has been so long that I have forgotten what good
tasting food is like, but I know I want to experience it again.

Our thoughts about food are temporarily forgotten as we get outside and
into the glorious sun for the first time in ages. It feels so wonderful
feeling the warmth of the sun beaming onto our bodies, and is even better
being able to feel just the gentlest of breezes blowing against our
faces. The world seems so colourful and beautiful, so much better than the
internal structure of the hospital. We don't make it too far out of the
hospital before we spot what we are looking for, a nice looking diner on
the other side of the road.

Mum doesn't get a chance to object to us going there, because we both run
off as fast as we can to the doorway of the place. We then stand there
looking and waiting for mum agitatedly. We are both sort of jumping around
in the doorway like we are nervous about something, but we are more feeling
impatience and hoping like hell that mum is going to get us something to
eat here. Thankfully she gives in and decides that it is probably a good
idea for us to get some decent food, which we are both so relieved about,
because we didn't want to have to put on a hissy fit.

We enter the diner, which is pretty blandly decorated. In a lot of ways it
reminds me more of an American style restaurant than anything we have seen
so far in France. The menu also confirms what I am thinking, but at the end
of the day it is food and still has to better than the crap we were getting
in the hospital. Mum is in a bit of a rush so we don't take long going
through the menu and just decide to get a cheeseburger and fries each to
take out.

We don't have to wait too long for our food, and in true fast food style
they seem to be as greasy as anything. But the taste of it is glorious
compared to what we have been eating; even Pierre looks to be in heaven
while he eats the soggy greasy burger and salty fries. If anyone were
watching us while we scoff down the food, they would probably think that it
is the first feed we have had in ages, because it is all gone with a blink
of the eye.

I know that the food probably isn't as good as we think it is, but after
having had terrible hospital food for so long, anything with fat in it was
always going to taste divine. The salt on the chips just helps to top
things off, but straight after having eaten the food we start to wish that
we had also got a soft drink. I know, typical kids, we have been made to
eat healthy for so long that the first opportunity we get we blow it all on
the worst food money can buy, and I don't regret it one little bit.

By the time we have finished eating we have arrived at a white Toyota Hiace
van, which is parked in the hospital car park. Mum unlocks the doors which
lets us know that this is our ride, although we have no idea where she got
it from. She tells me, privately, that she had got it the night before the
incident at the hotel because we were supposed to have moved on to a
different town in southern France that day. It is a rental, which she
decided that she might as well continue renting since we were still going
to need it once we got out of hospital.

The other advantage to having the vehicle is that she could find a nicer
hotel in the city, which didn't have to be within close vicinity to the
hospital, so we were in for a ride to see where everyone has been
staying. Mum has deliberately only told me this because she doesn't want to
confuse and upset Pierre by bring up the hotel incident in front of him,
because we have never told him about what happened there. All we have told
him is that he banged his head really badly and ended up in hospital, and
so far he has never asked any more about it.

We all get into the van and mum starts it up, reverses out of the park
before putting it in first, and then off we go, towards freedom at
last. While we are negotiating our way out of the parking complex, mum
tells us that we will be staying the night in the hotel which they have
been staying at, before we finally head out of Nimes in the
morning. Everyone will be waiting for our arrival at the hotel so mum warns
us to expect to get ambushed by three excited young boys as soon as we get
out of the van.

Her comment confuses us and we spend virtually the entire trip to the hotel
trying to work out who the extra boy is. I know that Callum and Manuel will
be there, because that is obvious, but I have no idea why there is supposed
to be another boy staying at the hotel. As we pull up in front of the hotel
it all becomes glaringly obvious who the mystery boy is. We had been
thinking along the wrong lines the whole time, because he isn't staying at
the hotel as he lives in the city. The boy is none other than Bastian.

Along with Callum and Manuel, Bastian seems to be bursting at the seams to
see us outside the hospital as well. The boy looks so fit and healthy under
the glorious early summer sun. His skin has browned up again nicely, which
makes me realise just how pale Pierre and I have become through lack of
exposure to the sun lately. I am almost a ghostly white colour, the palest
I ever remember being, and Pierre is only a little darker than I am.

It comes as a huge shock to us to see how much our skin has paled during
the time we have been in hospital, because up until now we hadn't noticed
it. The thing that we are both thankful about is that both of us tan very
easily, so we shouldn't stay this pale white for too long. I know that I
will do everything I can to get my colour back, and I'm pretty sure Pierre
will too.

Mum pulls the van up right outside the hotel's front door and François
comes over and opens our door to enable us to get out. Within microseconds
of our feet hitting the pavement we are ambushed by the three boisterous
boys, whose weight throws me and Pierre back up against the side of the van
from their impact. The collision with the van isn't hard, but still strong
enough to cause a loud thud, which scares the boys a little because they
think that they might have hurt us.

Seeing that we aren't showing any signs of pain, which is given away by the
way the two of us are smiling, the boys relax and then take us by the
hands, pulling us towards the rest of the waiting crowd. Unsurprisingly
they are all in fits of laughter because of the youngsters' antics. The
younger boys seem to have a good knack of brightening everyone's mood at
times, even though Pierre and I are already in a brilliant mood because we
are finally out of hospital, they have still helped to make our day even
better.

Pierre and I get a big hug from everyone as they welcome us back into the
real world. This is the first time that we have all been together at the
same time since the day Dan and Caleb left. Sure they had all visited us
regularly whilst we were in hospital, but never all at once. It feels so
good to be back in their company again and I'm hoping that this time it
will be pretty much for good, because I am still hoping that we can get
François, Manuel and his dad over to New Zealand when it's time to go.

For the moment though, I'm going to enjoy the simpler pleasures, like just
being able to go outside, or being able to see who I like when I like. Well
within reason, because I doubt that anyone is going to be too happy to see
me at like two o'clock in the morning. It is so great to have freedom again
and I want to make sure I enjoy it as much as I can. I know Pierre is
feeling the same way, because being cramped up in the hospital for so long
is no fun for anyone.

Once mum has parked the van and come back to us, we all head inside the
hotel. It is an old 17th century mansion and an absolute delight to the
eyes. Having been in the hospital for so long has made me appreciate
everything even more than I had before, and architecture is no different. I
am awestruck by how impressive and attractive this building is from the
outside and I can't wait to see whether it lives up to itself inside.

The first thing that grabs the attention when we enter the hotel is a
glorious interior courtyard. It looks so inviting and a good place to laze
away a summer's day when you can't be bothered to do anything else. The
main entrance still has all its period charm, which I am thrilled about,
with twisting staircases on each side of the courtyard leading to the
second floor rooms.

Mum waves to the lady behind the reception counter, but doesn't stop. She
leads us all upstairs taking the staircase to the right of the
courtyard. Once upstairs everyone disperses into their rooms, while mum
ducks into hers before coming back and handing me a key. We will be staying
in the room which Alice had been staying in, because mum didn't see the
point in returning the room to find that she couldn't get it back again
once we got out of hospital, so she decided to lump the extra cost and keep
the room even if it was going to be empty for a while.

The only ones left out in the hallway are Pierre and me, as well as the
three hyped youngsters. They have decided to stick with us, instead of
going into their room with François. All three of them have the most
mischievous grins on their gorgeous little faces, making me wonder what on
earth they have planned. Surely they can't have anything too evil in their
young minds, but anything is possible with Callum and Manuel. I'm also not
too sure about Bastian, because I think that he may have a bit of a
mischievous side to him as well.

Not sure what to expect, I slowly head to the door to our room and
cautiously unlock it. I don't know why but I'm half expecting it to be
booby trapped or something. The way the three boys are chuckling away
behind me while I unlock the door, puts me even more on edge, because I
know that they have been up to something. Surely mum won't have allowed
them in Pierre's and my room without any supervision, but then again this
is mum and she is capable of anything.

I hesitantly crack open the door, half expecting something to fall on me,
or a bucket of water to pour its contents all over me, but nothing
happens. I start to feel a lot more confident that nothing untoward is
going to happen, so open the door with less caution. Still nothing
unpleasant happens and the door is now about halfway open, so throwing all
caution to the wind I throw the door open the remainder of the way, knowing
that it is safe to do so.

The room is beautifully decorated, and is a good mix of the traditional and
the contemporary. The room is decorated in ochre, beige and cream, creating
a sensuous and relaxed feel. The furnishings are standard for what you
would expect in a hotel room, but with more of a contemporary feel. The
room though, isn't what grabs our attention. The decorations scattered
around the room, such as balloons and streamers are what draw the focus of
our eyes and minds. There is also a big banner hanging from the ceiling
welcoming us.

"Welcome back!" Everyone yells from behind us, causing us to jump a mile
from fright. After seeing the decorations in the room we had expected the
three boys to yell out something, but we had never expected everyone else
to come out of their rooms in order to surprise us. I mean all we have done
is finally got out of hospital, so nothing really that important.

"We wanted to show you just how much we missed you!" Callum says
excitedly. He seems to be extremely proud of what he has set up for us, and
I can understand why. I'm proud of my little brother as well, because he
shows just how much we mean to him in the most inspirational ways.

"Thank you so much, it means so much to us," I tell him, as I embrace him
in a hug.

"It was our idea too!" Manuel and Bastian inform us, almost pouting about
it because they were getting none of the credit.

"I know and I thank you both as well," I tell them and then give my brother
a noogie, before releasing him and going after one of the others.

Having seen me give Callum a noogie the other two boys decide all of a
sudden that they don't want to take any of the credit, so they scamper off
in opposite directions, leaving me to give chase. Pierre decides that he
wants to help to hunt down one of the boys, so takes off after Bastian,
leaving me to deal with Manuel.

Callum cracks up laughing from seeing his friends scatter like they did. He
finds it so funny watching Pierre and me give chase that he can't contain
himself and ends up rolling on the floor, while holding his side because it
hurts from laughing so hard. I finally catch up with Manuel and wrap my
arms around him and tackle him to the floor. I then give him a long hard
noogie for making me have to work so hard in order to get him.

I make sure that I don't hurt the little tyke, but I soon have him in fits
of laughter as well, because he finds the whole situation hilarious like a
nine year old tends to do. The giggling and carrying on of the younger boys
is so infectious that it soon has everyone giggling and chuckling away,
which gives Pierre his chance to strike and get hold of Bastian.

The tide quickly turns on Pierre, because Callum and Manuel have told
Bastian about his big weakness. The younger boy quickly repositions himself
so that he is able to tickle my lover, which he then does in
earnest. Pierre starts to squirm around the ground, laughing hysterically,
while he tries desperately to escape the boy's torment. The harder he tries
to get away the more Bastian goes after him, in order to continue his
torture of my lover.

I know that I'm going to have to go and help, but first I make sure I give
Manuel another long hard noogie, because I know he is the main instigator
of this. The boy's cause isn't helped by the big mischievous grin plastered
across his face. Upon receiving another noogie from me he pretends to be
hurt and offended by what I have done, but I don't buy into it and decide
to give him a wedgie as well after having stood up.

I don't achieve what I want to with the wedgie, because the little brat
isn't wearing any underwear. I'm left trying to hoist him up by his blue
board shorts, which doesn't have the same effect that briefs would have
had. The boy gives me a cheeky smile when I go to grab his undies and find
he isn't wearing any, but the smile is short lived when I give him a wedgie
anyway.

Seeing that Bastian is still tickling my boyfriend, I decide that I had
better put Manuel back down and go and assist him. The good thing for me is
that I know that Bastian is going to receive no help from the two
youngsters, because Callum is still rolling around on the floor in
hysterics, while Manuel is too busy trying to pick his shorts out of his
arse crack.

I quickly launch my attack on the unsuspecting boy and tackle him to the
ground away from Pierre. Then I do the same to him as I did to the other
two and give him a nice hard noogie, which the boy immediately tries to
counter. I'm too smart for him though, and had expected him to have a go at
me, so manage to avoid his attempt at getting me back. I then decide that
he deserves more punishment so I figure a wedgie is in order for him too.

I spring to my feet in haste, knowing I'm only going to get one chance at
this, because the boy will be expecting it. I take the gamble that he is
wearing briefs, because I don't think that Callum and Manuel have had
enough time corrupt Bastian too much yet. Luckily for me the boy is wearing
undies and I quickly yank them towards the ceiling, using all my strength
to hoist them and the boy inside, as high as I can.

Bastian squeals loudly as I give him a huge wedgie, but I know that he is
in no pain because he is laughing his head off. He will be in a bit of
discomfort with his briefs being pulled tight up his crack, but it isn't
enough to hurt him, which I am glad about because it was never my intention
to hurt him. The boy doesn't help his discomfort levels though, because he
decides that he is going to try to get out of my wedgie. The problem is he
loses his footing and falls to the ground.

I can't take the sudden extra weight so my arms follow his falling body,
but not at the same speed. The hallway is then filled by this ripping
noise, as his briefs start to tear from the strain they are under. I know
that the boy will be experiencing some, if not a lot of pain right now, but
my reflexes are miles too slow to be able to release my grip on his undies
quickly enough.

Bastian squeals loudly again, as his briefs go taut up his crack and then
start to rip. He knows that this was his doing, but never expected quite so
much pain to arise from it. Tears start to well up in his eyes from the
pain right through his midsection, and he is praying that the undies rip
just as fast as he is falling, but they don't do what he hopes and the pain
gets to be a little too much. He realises that he made a huge error in
judgement, but it is too late to take that back now, so all he hopes is
that the pain is short lived.

Almost as soon as Bastian crumbles to the floor he experiences this sharp
stinging sensation as the elastic waistband of his now ripped briefs snap
back into place around his waist. The stinging feeling is short lived
before it is quickly replaced by a burning sensation stretching from the
spot just between his balls and butt, all the way up his crack. The
friction burn feels like it's a small fire burning around back there, and
the boy struggles to fight back the tears, because he is too ashamed to
allow himself to cry in front of us.

"Shit, I'm so sorry Bastian! I never meant to hurt you," I say in a panic,
after having released my grip on his briefs. I feel even guiltier after
doing that, because I watch as the elastic hurtles back into place,
creating a loud snapping sound once it hits his bare flesh.

"It's not your fault, because I was being stupid in trying to escape you,"
Bastian snivels, still trying desperately to hold back the waterworks. I
bend down beside him and pull him back up into a sitting position, so that
I can give him a friendly hug to apologise further to him.

"Right, I think you kids have had enough fun and games, so I suggest you
all go into the room and behave yourselves!" François says. I know he is
right, but he said it in a far more demanding tone than I'm used to from
him, because he always seems to be a little soft on us, but then again no
one usually gets hurt, so I can understand where he is coming from.

I help Bastian off the floor and proceed to follow everyone else into the
room, assisting the boy along the way. He keeps pulling at his undies and
rubbing his butt, because it is sore and it feels like his briefs are still
wedged up his butt crack. It is making me a little concerned that I might
have hurt him pretty bad, but I am a little scared to ask him if he wants
me to check it out.

Well, it isn't the sort of region most boys would want someone to look at,
because it is a bit of an embarrassing part of the body as far as people
are concerned. That is the main reason I'm hesitant to ask him, but I do
feel like it might pay to take a look to ensure that he doesn't have a bad
rash or something there. I decide that for the moment I will let it be, but
if he still seems to be in discomfort later then I will suggest to him to
allow me to take a look. I feel I owe it to him for me to be the one to do
it, because after all I'm the one who caused him such pain.

Once inside the room, I notice finally that Callum isn't with us, making me
wonder where on earth he has gone. I get my answer when I hear the toilet
flush and the door open with my little brother being the one to come out of
the ensuite bathroom. It turns out that he had his usual problem from
laughing so hard, and again he nearly peed his pants, but managed to regain
enough composure to hold on till he made it to the toilet.

The other thing I notice entering the room, is the amount of work they have
all put into this little celebration. Along one wall is a table filled up
with lots of cold finger foods, which they had all specially gone out and
got; knowing that we would be desperate for some nice food. Seeing all that
food on the table makes me feel guilty and a bit ashamed that we couldn't
have waited till we got to the hotel to eat, and instead had those burgers
and fries. Oh well, too late to change our minds on that one too.

"Welcome back, you two. We figured that you must be sick to death of
hospital food by now, so we went out and got you something we thought you
would appreciate," Sarah says on behalf of everyone, with the warmest,
friendliest smile on her face.

Her whole demeanour has changed since she has had some therapy with Alice,
and she looks genuinely happy all the time now. I can see that a lot of
what she was portraying before was a mask and although she wanted to be
happy, she never quite was. There was always something eating away at her,
and no matter how hard she tried it was always there. She has always been
genuine about her forgiveness for me, so it wasn't that which was eating
away at her, it was something else, but I'm not quite sure what.

It doesn't matter now anyway, because Alice has done an excellent job, like
she has with everyone, and whatever issue it was that was eating away at
her has gone. What is left in its place is a happy, loving sixteen year old
girl, who now extrudes out her true feelings, instead of hiding behind a
mask. It makes me feel happy and get the warm fuzzies knowing that my
sister is finally truly happy, because she has done so much to make me
happy that I feel she deserves to feel the same way too.

"Thank you sis, and thank you everyone else. We never expected anything
like this, but you have made us so much happier to be back with everyone
again," Pierre says on our behalf, before he picks up a plastic plate and
begins filling it with an assortment of food.

Because I'm still feeling guilty about having hurt Bastian, I indicate to
him to go next and get something to eat, but he refuses flatly and tells me
in no uncertain terms that this meal is for Pierre and me, so I had better
get my ass up there next and get something. I'm a little taken back by how
demanding the boy is, but also impressed with how much better his English
has got and decide not to risk offending him or anyone else and go up next.

The array of different bite sized snacks on offer astounds me and also
tells me just how much effort everyone has put into this for Pierre and
me. Some of the stuff is home-made, so not strictly bought from the shop,
which tells me that there was a lot of prep work to make it happen. I pull
Bastian along with me as I head over to the table to ensure that he is the
next one in line, before I grab a plate and fill it, trying to get a sample
of everything.

I don't quite achieve my goal in getting one of everything, because there
is too much to choose from, so I'm just hoping that what I haven't had a
chance to get is still on offer once I've finished what I already have on
my plate. Bastian does go next, followed closely by the younger boys and
then my sister. The adults are the last ones to fill their plates, because
generally they eat the most, so wanted to ensure there was enough for us
kids first.

The food is as excellent as it looks and I am in heaven eating nice tasting
food again. As I look into Pierre's hazel eyes, I know that he is in the
same place as me while he too enjoys his meal. The food is so much better
than what we have had in ages, including the burger and fries we got
straight after leaving the hospital, but makes me aware of just how much we
have missed out on by being in hospital.

The thought is a little depressing, so I concentrate back on enjoying the
food and not thinking too much about anything else. I quickly finish my
plate and once the last adult has been through, I go back up to the table
to see if there is anything left. I am shocked and surprised to see that
there is still plenty of food left, so I pile up my plate again, ensuring I
get everything I missed out on last time.

Pierre joins me back at the table, as he goes for seconds as well. The two
of us throw all caution to the wind this time and pile up our plates as
high as we want them. Considering how much we have already eaten since
leaving hospital, our plates are still packed high. The food is just so
delicious that we will make it fit into our tummies somehow.

The one thing everyone neglected to tell me about puberty, but I have
quickly worked out, is that I'm likely to eat like a horse. I polish my
second plate off in no time and head back for some more. Pierre's more than
satisfied once he has finished his second plate, and struggles to believe
that I could still be hungry after what I have already eaten, but I pile up
another plate full of food and have it inside me pretty quickly as well.

This time it has hit the spot and I'm feeling nicely filled up, so I don't
go for any more. Although by this stage the table is starting to look
pretty empty, with almost all the food having been ravaged. Almost everyone
went back for a second plate, but no one else filled theirs as much as
Pierre and I did. In fact the only one who didn't go for seconds was Sarah,
but I find out that is quite typical of a teenage girl. For some reason
boys tend to be the complete opposite and eat as much as they can.

I put my plastic plate into the rubbish bin, and then head over to the
double bed and flop onto it. I'm feeling bushed now that my stomach is
full, especially after playing around with the young ones before the
meal. I'm feeling on top of the world, but that feeling increases tenfold
when Pierre cuddles up beside me. I wrap an arm around him, cuddling him
tenderly and just enjoying life outside the hospital.

One by one everyone else takes a seat somewhere in the room and the random
chatter begins. Mum has taken a seat not too far from the bed Pierre and I
are on, so I decide to press her about what we are doing tomorrow and where
we are going. I try and try to get as much information about her plans as I
can, but the only thing I get out of her is that we might be going for a
swim tomorrow if the weather is nice and warm.

I swear that mum can be so stubborn at times that you stand more chance of
getting blood out of a stone. She frustrates the hell out of me when she
gets like this, so I know exactly where I get my stubbornness from. Pierre
hugs me tighter, sensing the frustration which I'm feeling starting to take
control of my mood. His timing is impeccable at times, because if he had
left me to go for too much longer I would have got too frustrated and
lashed out, but he calms me down before I get that bad.

I do the right thing and give up trying to get information from mum and try
to join someone else's conversation. It isn't hard to join someone's
discussion, but it is starting to get hard to hear what anyone is
saying. Everyone seems to be trying to talk over top of everyone else, but
the three boys are the worst of the lot as their animated boy talk gets
more and more unruly by the second. They constantly get told to hush by
someone else in the room, but they only quieten down momentarily, before
they start to get all rowdy again.

In the end François ushers the three boys out of the room because they
have become far too rowdy and disruptive. He doesn't want to take them
away, but he knows that he is going to have to calm them down before
allowing them back into the room. I have to giggle at seeing the boys
getting escorted out of the room, because all three of them have their
heads drooped and look like they are heading off for a severe growling.

I know that François won't tell them off, because he doesn't seem to be
that sort of person. I'm pretty sure all he will do is get them to cool
down for a while. Well, either that or he will take them to a park or
something to get them to run themselves ragged. I'm almost tempted to
follow them in case they do go to the park, but I'm too comfortable
cuddling with Pierre.

François returns with the boys about ten minutes later which means they
didn't go to the park. I'm glad about that because I didn't miss out on
anything. The three boys are all red in the face and dripping with sweat,
which makes me wonder what François has done to them. They also look
knackered, which makes me wonder whether he has made them run around the
block or something. It turns out that is exactly what he has done, which
leaves Pierre and me giggling at the boys.

François's punishment works a treat, as the boys are too tired to be too
boisterous any more. They are far calmer and quieter now, so after a while
everyone has almost forgotten that they are even in the room. The boys are
talking away still, but are making sure that they don't get too rowdy and
animated in their conversation, because they are scared about being made to
go on another run.

The day slowly winds on with no-one in any real mood to do anything other
than laze around and talk. I'm not disappointed, because I can't be
bothered doing much myself and being cuddled up with Pierre is all I want
to do anyway. Considering I've been lying around in a hospital bed for so
long, I don't feel particularly lazy relaxing on the hotel room's bed and
with no ambition of doing anything else today.

The day slowly changes to evening and the room starts to quieten down,
because everyone is starting to get a little tired. The main reason
everyone is staying up is that we are waiting for Bastian's parents to come
and pick him up. Unfortunately this will be the last time we see him this
trip, because we will be leaving early the next morning and won't be coming
back to Nimes before we head back to New Zealand.

We make the most of the remaining time with Bastian, because we all are
disappointed that we won't see him again for a while. The realisation that
he only has a short amount of time left with us slowly starts to dawn on
the boy, but again he tries to be strong and not let his emotions take
control. I can see that he is secretly wishing that his parent don't turn
up, so that he can come along with us, but we all know he won't have that
sort of luck.

Sure enough, ten minutes later Bastian's biggest dread becomes reality,
when his parents show up outside the door to our room. They make a quick
introduction to those in the room that they haven't met, before apologising
and telling their son to say his goodbyes because they have to go. I can
see a look of sheer disappointment and angst come across Bastian's face, as
he knows that this is it.

The boy looks to be on the verge of tears, but is still fighting
desperately to hold them back. He wants to show that he is strong and not a
cry baby, despite Callum and Manuel crying when the boy hugs them to say
goodbye. He slowly makes his way from the boys around the adults and then
to me and Pierre. He embraces Pierre in a tight almost desperate hug, as
his emotions threaten to take control. He still does everything he can not
to cry in front of us, even though none of us other boys are scared to cry.

"Look, Bastian, don't be afraid to show your emotions. You are a stronger
person if you can show your emotions than you are if you hide them from the
world," I whisper, after he has finally released Pierre from his embrace
and come over to hug me.

That is all it takes and Bastian buries his head into my shoulder and bawls
his eyes out. He is devastated about having made such great friends, who he
feels like he will never see again. I am pleased to see him finally show
his emotions, but the problem is having him crying on my shoulder sets me
off as well. I cry into his shoulder just as much as he cries into mine. We
must make a sorry sight, but hey I couldn't give a shit, because I care
deeply about this boy and I'm gutted about leaving him.

"Thank you Josh, for being my friend when I needed one. You and Pierre have
been the best to me and I'm glad I met you. Please don't forget about me!"
he sobs. His English has got pretty good, but he still stammers from time
to time to make sure he uses the right word, and with that on top of the
fact he is crying, makes him quite hard to understand.

"Bastian, we will not forget about you, and the first opportunity we get we
will be back to visit you. I promise! Don't forget that you can get in
contact with us any time you like, because you have mum's cell phone
number, and our internet details," I reassure him. I give him a friendly
loving pat on the back, before reluctantly releasing him to indicate that
he should go with his parents.

I don't want him to go, but I know that it is for the best, because the boy
has to continue with his normal life, despite him wanting to stay with
us. He knows it isn't realistic, but still dreams that he could stay with
us. He finally decides that I am right and that he had better head home
with his folks, but first he gives me a tender peck on the cheek, before he
finally releases me. He makes sure to say one final goodbye to everyone,
before he follows his parents out the door and they disappear.

With Bastian gone François rounds up Callum and Manuel and leads them
away to the room they are staying in. The two boys are almost dead on their
feet, because it has been a busy and hectic day for them. Shortly after
they have gone mum and Manuel's dad say goodnight to us and make their way
to their room, followed closely by Sarah. Before she leaves she give both
Pierre and me a kiss on the cheek and a cuddle, and tells us how happy she
is that we are finally out of the hospital.

Sarah ensures to close and lock the door on her way out, leaving Pierre and
I still cuddling on the bed. With everyone gone I now start to appreciate
just how comfortable the bed truly is. It is as soft as a cloud, making me
surprised that we hadn't drifted off to sleep before now, but with all the
noise and commotion in the room I think that was near on impossible.

We decide that we should probably think about going to bed properly,
because we are both feeling dead beat. Reluctantly we release each other
from our cuddle and crawl out of bed. Then we take turns to strip each
other, before pulling back the covers and climbing into bed. I snuggle up
close to my lover, enjoying the skin on skin contact and stare lovingly
into his gorgeous hazel eyes.

Pierre then takes the lead and tenderly and lovingly kisses me, producing
all those wonderful magical feelings which surge through my body and put me
in a good happy place. I have never taken drugs before, but I still doubt
that any high you get from those things can compare to the high I'm feeling
right now. It is out of this world, because it is so great, but pretty soon
it leads to both of us being zoned out totally as the sleeping bug bites
and we both crash.

************

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