Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:37:17 -0600 From: Rhaven Subject: Upon A Time Chapter Two This story contains strong language and sexual content between boy/boy and boy/man. For more stories and poems, please visit: www.rhavenlore.com CHAPTER TWO Dylan fell into his couch with a bounce, comic book in hand. Joel had forced him into buying the comic book, despite his objection. Dylan looked at the book and frowned; he tossed it across the room and sighed. His life was a cosmic joke. Feeling edgy, Dylan decided to run a diagnostic on his website, which would take hours of boring work. It was just what he needed, something so boring he would go brain dead. He was in the second hour of checking over the site, completely numb from the neck up, when the doorbell rang. It couldn't be Joel, he never bothered with a doorbell. Other than Joel, Dylan had no idea who would be visiting him. This thought frightened him, he didn't like surprises, they only brought doom. Cautiously Dylan opened the door. Standing on his porch was a wide-eyed beautiful boy. Dylan rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing an illusion, happily the boy remained. "Can I help you?" He asked hesitatingly, wondering who had sent this boy here. "I need money." The boy said with his golden smile. "Excuse me?" Dylan looked past the boy to see if Joel was hiding behind his car. "I mean." Boy said laughing. "I would like to mow your lawn for money." Dylan grinned, he looked out at the wilderness he called a yard. "I think I could use your services." Dylan said with an honest grin. "How much do you charge?" "Forty bucks for THIS yard." The boy looked back at Dylan's lawn and shook his head. "Have you ever mowed your lawn?" Dylan blushed, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I think I did the first week I moved in." He laughed. "Forty bucks is a bargain." "All right then." The boy said anxiously. "I guess I get to work." "Right." His cheeks burned again as he realized how hard he had been staring at the boy. "If you need anything don't worry about knocking, just come in." "Sure." The boy said quickly and heading out to the sidewalk, where Dylan saw this greasy worn out lawnmower. He closed the door reluctantly; it was hard to stop looking at this boy. There are degrees of cuteness. There is the first degree, where you smile and say 'how cute' and continue on. Then there is the second degree, the double taker, which stops you in your tracks. Then the best, third degree, where you go weak in the knees and your breath is taken away. This is what Dylan was feeling now. Just seeing this boy had flushed away all his ill feelings, brought a smile to his emotionless face. Filling his mind with the boy's beauty; the spiky blonde hair, the beaded necklace around his long slender neck, and the dimples of his cheeks, how could he have gone so long without this boy? "You're being stupid." Dylan grumbled as the sat down at his computer. "All he's doing is mowing the fucking lawn. Shit you don't even know his name." Dylan returned to the mundane work on his website, but this time he couldn't concentrate. This is why I don't want anyone in my life, Dylan thought. However, he knew the thought was a disguise, to hide how he really felt. He sat there and listened to the lawnmower move around his yard. Several times, he found himself peeking out the window, watching the boy struggle in the heat of the day. How could someone always be beautiful, even with his mouth screwed up and sweaty, this boy was an Adonis. The computer pinged, finally finishing its diagnostic; Dylan sat back down and scanned over the report. "Hello Mister?" Dylan jumped up so quickly it scared the boy at the door. "Are you done already?" Dylan asked disappointedly. "No sir, I was just wondering if. if I could use your restroom?" "Oh. of course you can. and you can call me Dylan." He smiled at the sweaty boy, who smelled of grass. "Okay." The boy said with a wide smile and a wipe of his hand across his brow. "My name is Kasper." "Well Kasper, the bathroom is right down that hall there, first door t o your right." "Thanks." Kasper said almost gritting his teeth and quickly raced down the hall, hand already on his zipper. Dylan sat back down and held in a laugh, he could hear the boy urinate, which meant he hadn't closed the bathroom door. "Remarkable." Dylan said to himself, he would have never been this bold as a child. The toilet flushed and he listened as Kasper turned on the sink faucet. Dylan tried to look busy as the boy returned, but sitting in front of his computer didn't give him much to do to look busy, he decided on clicking on his mail icon. "You'd have a nice house here, if you cleaned it up." "Um. thanks I guess. I should hire you to do my laundry and cleaning." Dylan joked. "Cool computer!" Kasper interrupted, looking over the large data server, which Dylan had to admit he was very proud of, at a cost of ten thousand dollars, it had better impress. "Thanks, this baby can do just about anything." Dylan bragged. "So what do you use it for?" Kasper asked leaning closer to the server. "I run a business on the internet called BarterVille." Dylan said conceitedly. "Never heard of it. Do you make any money with it?" "Some." He had hoped that mentioning BarterVille would have impressed Kasper. "I bought this house with the money I made from it, not to mention my car and a few other things." Dylan pressed on. "That's cool. well I guess I'll go finish your yard." "Okay. um. don't get too hot out here, if you need a break. just come on in." Dylan tried not to sound too desperate, but felt he hadn't succeeded. "Thanks." Kasper said as he walked back outside. The lawnmower cranked on with a frantic sputter. Dylan busied himself by clean up the kitchen; suddenly he was embarrassed by his messiness. It was a surprisingly easy job, straightening the kitchen. Dylan felt foolish for letting it get so dirty for so long. Once all the dirty dishes were in the dishwasher and the counter cleaned, he made some tea. "Pizza would be cool." Dylan said to himself and quickly made a call to Pizza Hut. "Everyone likes pizza." Dylan whispered as he hung up the phone. He headed into the living room and started to clean it, not as complete as he had done the kitchen, but enough to appear decent. By the time he had finished, the doorbell rang. Dylan ran to the door, the pizza place was just down the street and he being such a good customer, always got his pizzas quick. "Hi Angelo." Dylan said as he opened the door. Angelo, a rather large man smiled foolishly, he wasn't much of a talker, in fact Dylan wasn't sure he spoke English. "Here you go Angelo." Dylan handed the quiet man thirty dollars. Maybe that was way Angelo always smiled; he knew Dylan was a big tipper. Dylan placed the pizza on his now clean table and waited. Kasper was working hard in the back yard now. Finally, Dylan heard the lawnmower die; he held his breath waiting for Kasper to come into the house. "I'm done." Kasper appeared at the back door. His shirt and face was dripping wet from sweat. Dylan tried not to stare, but now he knew why 'straight men' liked wet t-shirt contests. "Damn Kasper." Dylan said without thinking. "Go wash off and I'll fix you a cold glass of tea." The boy obeyed without question, walking to the bathroom tiredly. Dylan smiled and quickly poured himself and Kasper a glass of ice tea. He then pulled out a slice of pizza and started eating. He was nervous now, what if the boy thought he was strange. "Shit I am strange." He didn't want to come across as creepy and desperate, but that's exactly how he felt. "Man it's hot out there." Kasper sighed as he walked back into the kitchen. "You really should mow your lawn more often." "I have you to do that now." Dylan nervously joked. "Here's your tea." "Thanks, thanks a lot." Kasper eagerly drank the tea. "Wow I was thirty." "I've. I've got some pizza here if you'd like some." Dylan pointed to the pizza as if the boy couldn't see it. "No thanks. I don't like pizza." Kasper finished off his tea. "Could you pay me now?" "Yeah of course." Dylan gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming. He was screwing everything up, as he screwed up all his life. Dylan gave Kasper forty dollars and expected the boy to run madly from the house, screaming 'help.help', but Kasper calmly put the money into a ratty old wallet. "Thanks and thanks for the tea. I better be getting home." Dylan opened the door for Kasper and tried to smile. "See you tomorrow." Kasper said as he pushed the ancient lawnmower down the sidewalk. "Yeah see you tomorrow." Dylan said back and closed the door. "Damn he is so beautiful.. See you tomorrow?" Dylan yanked opened the door again, did you hear Kasper right? For a moment, Dylan wasn't sure he should be excited or panicked. Kasper was coming back to his house, for reasons Dylan didn't understand, he didn 't want to see too much into Kasper's comment, but he couldn't help but think, to dream that Kasper had instantly fallen in love with him, as he had with the boy. Then the anti-social voice piped in, he'd have to entertain the boy, constantly. No more lounging around doing nothing, no more freedom, he would be a prisoner in his own house and what if Kasper wanted to spend the night. "Stop being a fucking freak." Dylan cursed to himself. He clicked on the television, but there was nothing on that could comfort his mind. Was he such a coward, so afraid that happiness was his for the taking? Would it be the end of his world to remember how to smile once again? Dylan turned off the TV annoyed by the smiling faces and curled up across the couch. He was an adventurer, trapped within a shell of fear. "Geeze Lance!" Joel barked and snatched the coke bottle out of Lance's hand. "Don't you know how to share?" "I was thirty." Lance protested as he wiped his lips. Dylan and Jesse lay side by side, both giggling at the other boys. All four boys sat at the bank of the creek, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the peace of their company. Jesse had easily fallen into place with the trio; his shining personality had won over Lance and Joel quickly. As for Dylan, he had fallen instantly in love. "You guys stop fighting; we still have one more coke." Jesse said lifting up the bottle to sooth Joel's angry look. "Dylan you thirty?" Dylan looked over at Joel and Lance; they didn't seem upset at Jesse's offer. If there was one thing Dylan hated, it was making his friends mad and since he hadn't been fighting over the coke, it didn't seem fair for him to drink first, but Dylan melted from Jesse's gentle look. "I'll just have a sip." Dylan said with a smile. "Okie dokie." Jesse said in his normally cheerful voice. He popped off the cap and instead of handing it to Dylan, he said; "open your mouth." Dylan obeyed, wide-eyed he watched as Jesse climbed on top of him, sitting on his stomach and carefully put the coke bottle to Dylan's lips. It was awkward, but Dylan managed to drink the coke with just a little running down his chin. Jesse laughed and took a sip from the bottle before handing it to Lance. "You shouldn't waste it." Jesse whispered, leaned down and licked the coke from Dylan's chin. "Damn." Joel squeaked. "Why don't you two get a room or something?" He said much louder. "What's wrong Joel, feeling left out?" Said Jesse as he jumped off Dylan and rushing over to Joel. "Hey!" Joel said out of shock as Jesse quickly sat on top of him and pulled up his shirt. "What. what are you doing?" Jesse didn't say anything, he took the coke from Lance and poured a few drops onto Joel's bare stomach. "Sit still." Jesse commanded and started licking up the coke. Dylan watched in amazement as Jesse poured a little more coke on Joel' s stomach. He wasn't just amazement, he was jealous. Jesse was so free, unburdened by anyone's rules. Dylan wished he could be that way. He was also a little uncomfortable with Joel getting the attention. "Oh man, that tickles." Joel stuttered, his fingers digging into the grass. "Hey!" Joel complained when Jesse stood up. "What. we out of coke?" "Nope." Jesse said walking back over to Dylan and sitting down. "Where did you learn that?" Dylan dared to ask. "Learn? Didn't learn anything, I just thought it sounded fun." Jesse rolled over so that his face was right next to Dylan, his mouth mere inches from his. "It's all about the fun." Jesse said seductively, his lips brushing softly over Dylan's lips. For a moment Dylan thought Jesse was going to kiss him, he wanted the kiss, he needed the kiss. However, Jesse moved away, lying back down on the soft grass. "I wish we could all stay here forever." Jesse said looking up into the deep blue sky. "Yeah." Dylan agreed. Here at Sabato Creek, this was their paradise, no parents, no bullies and no problems. They could say whatever was on their minds, talk about anything and never worry about the consequences. The creek was far enough from the neighborhoods, that they didn't have to worry about uninvited guests. It was the perfect place for four lonely boys. Lance sat up and stretched. "This place would be better if we had something comfortable to sit on." "And a table." Joel added quickly. "What about a clubhouse or something." Dylan contributed, feeling proud of his idea. "Cool, that's our quest then. to find all that stuff to make this the best hideout ever!" Jesse almost glowed with excitement. Dylan rolled off the couch, the sun had set without Dylan noticing or caring. Night or day, it was all the same to him. Dylan's thoughts drifted back to Kasper, how different he had felt with the boy here. It was the energy he needed and desired. It was like waking up from a coma and seeing the sun for the first time in years. Its warmth and radiance renewed him, but it also irritated old burns. Dylan knew he was being foolish, he was already thinking of Kasper breaking his heart. "Fuck." Dylan cursed the thought raging through his head. "I'll just tell him to go away tomorrow." Dylan said to himself. "that is, if he even bothers to show up." Dylan crawled into bed, not truly wanted to sleep, but the idea of walking around the house at night, only meant he would continue thinking. He was sick of thinking. He dreamed of Jesse again, standing between the two rooms. The rooms were different now, which Jesse seemed to want Dylan to see. The room on the left had a door with thick chains and a large lock. While the room on the right had the door removed. It was as if Jesse or the phantom image of Jesse wanted him to choose a room, the one of the left or the right. He felt an urgency in making a decision, but his mind was blank, he couldn't think. He couldn't make a choice and he knew his life depended on it. Dylan woke up furious. His head ached and his body betrayed him with pain as he sat up. "Mother fucker." He growled as he stumbled to the bathroom. How he hated his nightly journeys into darkness. After his shower, he made his way to the kitchen, which he nearly didn't recognize, having forgotten cleaning it yesterday. "Coffee yummmm." He purred as the black liquid coated his insides with warmth. Already his nightmares were fading with the rise of the sun, as Dylan got dressed. He had nothing planned today, but it was rare for him to plan anything. Dylan was about to sit down at his computer when the doorbell rang. "Holy shit." He almost fell over the coffee table, spilling magazines to the floor in his attempt to steady himself. "Jesus. Jesus." Panic is a horrible feeling, with a churning stomach, your knees go weak and even your skin starts to feel slimy. Then the shakes begin and your body refuses to obey. He hated how easily panic consumed him. "Oh screw it. " Dylan took a deep breath; he brushed back his bangs and opened the door.