Warning! This is a tale about men loving men. If you find this disturbing - click off. If it's unlawful for you to read this - click off. If you under age - good luck if you can get away with it.

This is not a story for getting your rocks off. Just thought I'd let you know, so you won't waste your time if that's what your looking for. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy my writing.

I appreciate feedback and do my best to respond to it all. I may be contacted at: J S.Collection@Verizon.Net

Those Golden Eyes

Chapter 48

If one thought that Tim was nervous the morning of their commitment ceremony, Johnny was twice that. He hadn't stopped squirming since he had risen at four that morning. He had slept in one of Joe and Dave's guest rooms, while Joe had spent the night in their apartment with Tim.

"What foolishness, Mom making us sleep apart last night,"he thought as he ran his finger around the collar of the tuxedo shirt for the umpteenth time since he had gotten dressed. "I need Tim here with me to give me confidence. God, I must have been mad to agree to this. In a while I'm going to be standing in front of all my family and friends, all my ol' cop buddies, and the Chief himself, declaring my love and commitment to Tim. It's got to be love."

He had no idea why he'd gotten into the monkey suit so early.

Dave leaned against the door with a cup of coffee in his hand and grinned at him. "I don't suppose it would do any good to tell you to relax, would it?" he said.

"Don't know why I'm so damned nervous about this," Johnny muttered.

"Well, we will be leaving in about twenty-five minutes. And it will all be over in a couple of hours."

"How's Tim holding up?"

"Joe said that he is as jittery as a bug in a hot skillet."

"Well, after the show he put on last night he should be. The brazen little ......" Johnny stopped in mid sentence as he considered last nights events.

"Do you think he would have taken his jock strap off, too, if I hadn't put a stop to it?"

Dave couldn't help but chuckle. "We'll never know, I guess. Did you ask him?"

"Yeah. I did."

"So what did he say?"

"He said that it's just something we're always going to have to wonder about."

Dave laughed. "That's Tim. I think he's a worse tease than Joe. What would you have done if he'd gotten it off before you could stop him?" he said.

"Hell, as hot as he had me, I'd have probably just gone down on him right there in front of all of you."

"Guess it was a good thing you had enough control to put a stop to it," Dave said with a hardy guffaw.

"Yeah, it would have been a bit too much with Lloyd and Paul and all the other straight guys there." Johnny laughed again with Dave joining in. "I don't even want to think about it," he said, still chuckling.

~~~~~

Across campus in Johnny and Tim's apartment, Tim was almost as nervous as Johnny. He had waited to get into the Tux, and was now putting it on with Joe's help.

Joe had whisked Tim out of the eyrie while the other guys had held Johnny back after the surprise striptease that Tim had put on for Johnny's entertainment at his bachelor's party. Joe had been in charge of the party and had asked Tim if he wanted to do something special to surprise Johnny. The striptease was what he came up with. Joe thought that was a great idea and had planned the music and timing. Tim had told Johnny that some of his college buddies were putting on a party for him and he wouldn't see him again until they met in front of their guests in the morning.
Tim had entered dressed like a construction worker. He wore a wig to hide his hair color, with a shear stocking pulled over his head to distort his features. Johnny hadn't recognized him until he'd dropped his jeans.

He had lap danced Johnny as he had stripped off his shirt and rubbed his nipples against Johnny's lips, and ground his own hardness against Johnny's, getting him all hot and excited. It really turned him on to know that Johnny was excited, too.

Johnny had held out against responding to the hot, muscular, young body. His friends egged him on. He had kissed Tim's nipples and pushed him away. And then Tim had started a bump and grind lowering his Levi's. That was when Johnny saw the brown birthmark on Tim's hip just below the wide elastic band of the jockey strap and realized that it was his young lover putting on this lascivious spectacle.

At that point Johnny had turned the tables on Tim and started playing with him getting him excited, too. Tim'd had no intention of going further than undoing the buttons on his jeans and titillating Johnny by showing a little more skin. But Johnny kept urging him on calling him a chicken and a coward. And then Johnny and jumped up and danced against him. Rubbed his hard cock against Tim's, saying,"Oh it feels so big, come on, big boy, show us what you've got." He licked Tim's ears and neck and whispered, "Come on, cute thing, show me what you've got. I'll bet everyone here wants to see that big banana you've got stuffed in your jock strap." And then, he grabbed Tim's butt and pulled him in tight, saying, "Damn, I'd like to fuck you right here in front of everybody."

Tim pulled away from Johnny. He was pissed, but still he continued his dance. He was caught in a delirium of sexual heat and at the same time furious that Johnny was reacting so blatantly. He decided to see just how far he could take this. Completely unaware any longer of the men watching and cheering them on, he started a slow gyrating dance, oblivious to anyone else there except Johnny. He pushed his jeans below his knees, stepped on the cuff and pulled a leg free, and then grabbing the other pant leg he pulled the jeans off and tossed them to Johnny, who held them to his face and made a big act of sniffing them. The feelings warring in Tim's head had him dizzy, he wasn't going to stop now. He was naked except for his jockey strap.

He turned his butt to Johnny, amid hoots and hollers from everyone watching he bent forward and rubbed against Johnny's raging hardon. He pushed down one side of the jockey strap waistband and then pulling it up, pushed down the other side. Tim suddenly became aware of his audience and started dancing for them ignoring Johnny. He turned his back to everyone and using both hands started sliding the waist band over his butt staring Johnny in the eyes, daring him to egg him on.

That's when Johnny moved. He stepped up to Tim, turning him to face him. He reached down and pulled the waistband back up as he whispered in his ear. "That's enough, Timmy." He removed the hard hat and pulled the stocking off along with the wig off Tim's head and kissed his forehead.

Tim buried his head in Johnny's chest and clung to him as he shuddered hard. Johnny grabbed one of the ever present big white pool towels, and wrapping it around his lover. "Alright, enough of a show everybody. The rest is totally mine," Johnny informed his guests, hugging Tim tight to his chest. Tim shuddered again and again, while all the guys continued to clap, hoot and whistle.

Holding him close to his body Johnny led him into the house. Tim lay against Johnny, gasping for breath and convulsing occasionally. He was shaking like an aspen leaf in a stiff breeze. "Oh God, oh God." he kept muttering.

"Are you okay, Babe?" Johnny's voice was filled with concern. He had no idea what was wrong with Tim. He thought he was just over wrought from his erotic dance.

Outside, as Dave gathered up Tim's clothes he overheard a couple of the men, who had been introduced as Johnny's police detective buddies, commenting to each another

"Damn, that guy is hot enough to make any straight guy gay."

"You said it, I'm hot enough to fuck anything that moves."

"So what are you waiting for? I'm moving."
"Don't slow down, I'm right behind you."

Dave watched them seek out Joe before they headed to the door. He grinned to himself and took Tim's clothes into the bedroom to Johnny. He went back out to help Joe entertain everyone outside.
~~~
Tim let out an occasional sigh and shuddered as he stood like a limp mannikin letting Johnny dress him. It was only as Johnny started to button Tim's Levi's that he realized that the pouch of his jockey strap was saturated. He looked up at Tim who smiled weakly back at him, and said, "You did that to me, when you held me and said that the rest was yours. I couldn't help it I just went into overload."

Johnny stood and took Tim into his arms, and kissed his forehead, caressing the back of his head.

"You little idjit. I should be upset with you. But I love you so much there is no way I could be. Damn, Timmy that was the hottest lap dance I've ever experienced, you almost made me cum in my drawers."

"You knew it was me all along didn't you. I never fooled you at all, did I?"

Johnny chuckled. "Yeah, you had me fooled until you pulled your pants down and showed me your birthmark."

"I forgot about that. I was so furious that you were flirting with me. I mean with a stranger, a slut doing a lap dance on you."

"I'm sorry Babe, I should have let you know that I knew it was you. But, damn, you are so sexy. You had me so hot I felt like taking you right there on the floor."

"I'm sorry, Johnny. I really went to far. I'm sorry."

"Hey. I loved every moment of it. I love you, Tim." Johnny continued to hold Tim, whisper little soothing words and caress the back of his head and neck until he calmed down completely.

~~~

The party started breaking up. Joe whisked Tim out of the eyrie amid much jeering about him and Johnny not getting to sleep together the night before the ceremony. They held Johnny back as he pretended that he was determined to go with his lover.

Tim slumped in the passenger's seat and sighed.

"Are you okay, Tim? You look depressed," Joe asked.

"That sure didn't go like I had planned."

Joe chuckled. "That was quite a show you put on."

"Thanks, I guess. I'm just so embarrassed that I got carried away with it." Tim sighed.

"If you'd been doing it for someone other than Johnny you probably wouldn't have gone so far."

"If it had been someone else, it wouldn't have been me doing that dance," Tim said vehemently

"You got my little bro so hot and bothered he probably won't sleep tonight thinking about you."

"I should have kept my pants on. Johnny didn't know it was me until I dropped my Levi's."

"You do have a very distinguishing mark on that cute little butt."

Tim ignored the compliment. "I forgot about the birthmark. That's when everything got out of control. Johnny started egging me on and I got so pissed off that he was doing that with a hired dancer that I just went over board."

Joe just chuckled as he mentally reviewed Tim's dance.
~~~~
Tim fumbled with the key getting it into the door. He stumbled into the bedroom and slumped on the edge of the king size bed, his head down with his hands dangling between his legs. Joe looked at him for a minute and then lifted him to his feet.

"Get undressed and get into bed. Tomorrow is going to be here very soon, and you need to be fresh and spry."

"I've got to go wash up," Tim mumbled, grabbed a fresh pair of boxers and headed for the bath room. Joe undressed and got into the king sized bed. Tim cleaned himself, put on the boxers and stumbled to the bed and collapsed into it. Joe turned off the light.

"Good night, Joe. I'm sorry you have to be away from Dave. I guess you can blame your mother for that."

"Only for two of my favorite friends, one of them being my brother, would I do this. You know? This is the first time Dave and I have not shared a bed since the night we met."

"I know how you're feeling." Tim mumbled. He was so exhausted he turned on his side facing Joe across the wide expanse of the big bed and was soon snoring.Joe lay facing Tim feeling lonesome for his man. He admired the handsome young fellow sleeping next to him and was happy that his brother had found him, but he wasn't the least bit envious of him. He had his Dave. And as he thought about Dave he closed his golden eyes and soon was fast asleep.

~~~~~

One would imagine that two hunky men sleeping in he same bed would end up snuggled together. But when Joe woke up he was still on his side of the bed and Tim was curled into a ball on the other. He was lightly snoring. Joe quietly got up and went into the bathroom. He did his three 'S's, slipped on one of the terry robes hanging on the back of the door and padded into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.

The smell of the fresh coffee permeated the one bedroom apartment waking Tim. He was usually a morning person, bright and perky. This morning he felt like he needed eight more hours of sleep. And then he thought about what the day held for him and he was suddenly awake and eager to meet the day.

He slipped into the bathroom noting that the tile was warm and wet in the shower. He assumed that Joe had already done his morning ablutions, so he took his time letting the hot spray of water fully awaken his body. After carefully shaving and brushing his teeth he donned the remaining robe and headed for the kitchen to get some of the delicious smelling coffee. He stopped in the doorway looking at Joe who was sitting at the table perusing the morning paper. Joe looked up and smiled. "Good Morning, brother-in-law."

Tim grinned. "Are you sure you and John are not identical twins?"

"No, really, I'm two years older."

"You look just like John sitting there reading the paper."

Joe just grinned. Tim got himself a big mug of coffee, poured in a quarter cup of half and half and two teaspoons of sugar. Joe watched. When Tim sat down he looked at Joe. "What?"

Joe shook his head. "I was just noting that you like coffee in your cream and sugar."

"Habit. Blame it on my mother. This is the way she fixed it for me as a kid."

"So, are you ready for the big event?"

"I only have to put on that clown suit your sister picked out for me."

"Just think of Johnny's reaction when he sees you dressed in that white tux."

"Excuse me. Your little sister made it very clear that the tux isn't white. It's creme du lait," Tim said putting on haughty airs.

Joe grimaced and grinned. "Sounds like my mother and sisters have really done a number on you."

"You don't know the half of it. If I had known that I would have to put up with what they have put me through, I would never have asked Johnny to commit to me."

"You mean he's not worth it?"

"Joe." Tim's tone was scolding. "Of course he's worth it. A hundred times over. I'm just letting off steam. But you've got to admit, when it comes to a wedding, your female family members are a little crazy."

"Hey, they're Italian, what do you want?"

Tim shook his head and laughed.

"Do you know how many times I've heard that expression in the last few months?"

Joe grinned and shrugged. "What can I say?" At that point Tim chimed in and repeated simultaneously with Joe, as they both held their hands up palms out, "You're/We're Italians."

When they stopped laughing Tim got serious. "Joe, do you think that Johnny is upset about last night? He won't have a change of heart will he?"

Joe thought about how Johnny had cared for Tim in the aftermath of the infamous dance, holding him close and quietly talking him down from the high he'd worked himself into.

"Johnny loves you, Tim. You know that."

"I'm just so embarrassed. How could I have done that in front of all those men. A bunch of them were straight cops even. How can Johnny forgive me for making such a spectacle of myself?"

"Tim, listen to me. It was a bachelor party. Something like that is expected."

"Yeah, from someone that is paid to do it."

"Hey, you did it for Johnny. Right?"

"Only for Johnny. After the first couple of minutes I wasn't even aware there was anyone else there."

"So how could he be upset by that?"

~~~~~~

Jake watched Charley buckle the shoulder holster over his white shirt and then pick up the big black hand gun and slip it into the holster. Jake shuddered.

"I wish you didn't have to carry that thing. It's so dangerous.""Jake babe, I have had years of training. The only person this is dangerous to is the one I point it at." I have to carry it. It's part of my job."

"I also wish you weren't on duty today."

"Hey, someone has got to watch the flock. At least you will be there with me."

~~~~~

Dave and Joe had strict orders from Angie that they were to make sure that Joe and Tim did not see each other before the ceremony, and that when they arrived at the house they were to be taken directly to the bedroom designated for each. Tim was scheduled to arrive ten minutes after Johnny so there would be no chance meeting.

~~~~

Deirdre slowed as she pulled onto the street where the Paolini's lived. She assessed the parking situation and drove her sleek little Jag convertible into the driveway of the Paolini residence as if it were the proper thing to do. No one accosted her as she slipped out of the car and straightened her low cut, slinky red dress.

She looked like she would be more appropriately dressed for an evening nightclubbing rather than a wedding. Her lustrous bleached-blonde hair was piled in loose ringlets on top of her head. She wore pendulous gold earrings set with rubies that accented her long sensuous neck, and a necklace that ended with a large, dark red stone laying just above her deep cleavage.

A parking attendant approached her. She smiled at him and dropped the car keys into her 'french pocket', the deep cleavage below the red stone pendant. The attendant shrugged and let her.

She balanced herself with one hand on the car door as she adjusted the heel strap on one of her three inch spiked spaghetti strap heels. She noted three plain-clothes guards ogling her as they tried to be inconspicuous as she walked into the house.

She'd been here as a child and a teenager, but Johnny had never brought her to his home when he was dating her. Ushers were guiding people into the back yard. She looked around and identified the door leading to the upstairs. She slipped through it acting as if she lived there.

At the top of the stairs she saw that all the doors were open except two. She listened at the first closed door. Hearing two male voices she didn't recognize, she moved on to the next one and rapped softly. Calling out softly, "Johnny, are you in here?"

Not waiting for an answer she opened the door and peered in. Yes, there was Johnny looking so magnificent, so sexy in a White Tux.

~~~~

As the time crept closer Tim drew into himself more and more. Joe started to worry.

"Tim, are you sure you are alright?" He asked for the umpteenth time.

Tim looked up at him. Joe looked kind of blurry. "Do you really think that Johnny is going to go through with this?" He whispered.

"Tim, Johnny is so in love with you he'd walk through fire if you asked him to. Charley told Paul that all Johnny talked about was you while they were in Chicago on training."

"I just have this funny feeling that his past is going to catch up with him and he's going to run."

~~~~~

Jake sat next to Jason and Pete about four rows back. There was no separation of guests other than the first two rows that were reserved for immediate family. He watched Jim escort the elderly Paolini Patriarch to the front row, seat him next to a man and woman that didn't appear to be part of the Paolini clan, and then sat beside him. Jason nudged him and motioned toward Jim with his chin.
"I saw him come in." Jake muttered.

At that moment there was a disturbance right behind Jake. He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked right into his lover's eyes as Charley leaned toward the Police Chief to ask his presence upstairs. Charley winked at Jake and smiled as he squeezed his shoulder. Jake felt a warm glow suffuse his body.

He turn back to the front and saw Jim staring back at him. Jake hadn't seen Jim since their confrontation in the psychiatrist's office. Jake nodded at him. Jim smiled. Jake just stared back. He felt a sickening hollow ache in his abdomen that drowned the warm glow he felt with Charley. He dropped his gaze to his hands clinched in his lap. A smaller hand reached over and squeezed his hand. Jake looked up at Jason who had observed the whole thing. "Jake, just think of how you feel about Charley. Let the rest go." Jake covered his small hand and gave it a light squeeze.

Pete squeezed Jason's thigh to get his attention. "Look who just came in." Jason and Jake turned to look. Gio and Teddy were walking down the aisle.

As they watched, Gio said something to Teddy and Teddy grabbed Gio's hand. The rest of the people might as well have not been there for all the notice they gave them. Smiling at each other and still holding hands they followed the usher to sit in the second row of family seats.

"Is it infatuation, or just plain ol' lust?" Jason asked.

"Jason, that's not like you to say something so mean," Pete scolded.

Jake leaned forward so he could see Pete.

"It might be true love on both sides, time will tell," Jason said before Jake could say anything.

"If you're intimating that Teddy is worming his way to the top by courting Gio, you're wrong, Little Bro," Jake said. "Gio told me himself that Teddy wanted to quit because Gio had given him the position of Executive Chef in the new restaurant they'll be opening. It took a lot of talking to convince Teddy that Gio was serious about the job. Gio told me that he told Teddy that there was no way he'd gamble hundreds of thousands of dollars on a good looking lay."

"Hey, there's Arlen. That must be his parents he's with. The man looks just like him," Jason interrupted.

"Yeah that's Mr Aldridge. He's the investor for Dave. He's the one that's investing Tim's and Johnny's money, too," Pete said.

"How do you know that?" Jake asked.

"Arlen told me."

Jason was looking elsewhere. Jake poked Pete's arm and asked him if he knew him the man walking down the aisle with the stately woman in the blue dress. Pete looked in the direction Jake pointed and whispered, "Oh wow. That's Jason's dad." He turned to his lover. "Jason your dad is here." Jason jumped up and hurried to catch his dad and Liz before they found a seat.

Jake watched. " He looks just like Jason. I thought Jason's dad just died a couple of months ago."

"This is his biological dad. They just found each other when the man that he thought of as his father died. Get Jason to tell you the story."

They watched as Jason and his dad hugged and then as the woman hugged him too. Jason led them back and introduced them to Jake. They both gave Pete a loving hug after shaking hands with Jake. Jake moved over so they could sit next to Jason

~~~~~

Arlen had glimpsed a man sitting with the family on the front row, next to an old man. The rest of the world just went away as he stared at him. There was something about him that excited him. He couldn't have told you what it was, but he knew he wanted to meet him. He hoped that he might be gay. There was a good chance of it, he thought, being he wasn't with a woman.

He followed his parents and was seated two rows back on the opposite end from the guy he was looking at. He leaned over to his dad and whispered, "I recognize all the family except for the two on the end. Who is the old man and the younger one sitting next to him?

Carl looked and waited to see a face before answering. "That's the Paolini patriarch, Joe and Johnny's grandfather. The young man next to him must be his companion."
"Companion? Isn't the old man too old for that?"

Carl laughed at his son. "His nurse, Son, the person who takes care of him."

Arlen mentally sighed with relief. "Oh."

"Good looking fellow, isn't he?" Carl asked.

Arlen blushed. "I guess so," he answered. He looked around the crowd, but his eyes kept coming back to the same fellow.

~~~~~

In the bedroom two doors down the hall Johnny was pacing the floor. Dave calmly watched him.

"I know it's stupid to tell you to relax so I won't. But I wonder if it was Tim's dance last night that's got you uptight, and now you have to look all those guys in the eye this morning?"

Johnny smiled remembering the intimacy of dressing Tim after the lap dance. He stared out the window a moment before answering. "No, I'm so proud that Tim would forget himself like that for me. He's always so reserved. I don't give a hoot what those guys thought about it."

"So what's got you pacing like this?"

Johnny turned and stared up at the ceiling and then looked at Dave. "I'm scared, Dave, maybe I'm not really gay. Maybe I'll wake up one morning and realize that Tim is just an aberration, and that I really do love women."

As Dave started to answer there was a light tapping on the door. A soft female voice Dave didn't recognize called out. "Johnny? Johnny are you in there?"

Johnny whirled and stared at the door. "Deirdre," he whispered. "Oh God, no."

Dave started toward it.

"Don't answer it, maybe she'll go way." Johnny said in a harsh whisper. Dave stopped and looked at him and then at the door. The knob turned and the door opened enough for a beautiful woman's face to peer around it.

Deirdre hesitated when she saw Dave and then she noticed Johnny in his white tux. She ignored Dave and slithered around the door to advance on Johnny. "Oooh, aren't you gorgeous and sexy as ever," she purred. Her tight silky dress accenting her curvaceous body as she slinked across the room. Johnny gulped, not able to take his eyes off her. She slithered up to him and pressed her body against him as she grasped his butt cheeks and pulled him against her. "I just thought I should remind you what you're giving up, Johnny. You still have time to change your mind."

His body didn't respond to her as he feared it would. He held his arms rigid at his sides. He thought about Tim.

"Get out of here, Deirdre, I don't need any reminders. I know what I want and it isn't you."

"You can't fool me. I can feel how you respond to me." She ran her hand over his crotch expecting to feel his hardon. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You could never resist me, Johnny. Come on big guy, show me how much I turn you on."

"You don't, Deirdre, so why don't you stop acting like a slut."

"Maybe you're just a little out of practice. You need a little more stimulation." She grabbed his hand, attempting to put it on her ample, nearly bare breast. He refused, but he could feel himself getting turned on and it angered him. He closed his eyes and envisioned Tim naked. No, that thought was really turning him on and she'd think it was her manipulations doing it. He imagined ninety year old Mrs. McGreevey, down the street, naked. Her body all one big mass of dry wrinkles. That was working. Then he imagined Deirdre looking the same. Yes, that worked.

Dave took the woman's arm in an attempt to pull her away from Johnny. She turned and slapped him. "Get your filthy faggot hands off of me," she snarled.

When she let go of Johnny and turned on Dave, Johnny grabbed her arms from behind and started toward the door with her. Deirdre started shrieking profanities at him and all the perverts in the world.

Angie hearing the commotion ran into the room. She assessed the situation and took Deirdre's arm to lead her out of the room. "Who invited you to this party?" Angie demanded.

"I didn't need an invitation. Johnny is making a huge mistake and I came to straighten him out."

The slap had stunned Dave. It took a moment for him to collect his senses. He pulled out his little communicator and pushed the panic button. Charley and two other personal guards came running into the room almost immediately.

"I don't believe anyone is really checking credentials at the door. This woman crashed the party. I want her removed from the premises immediately with charges of trespassing brought against her."

"Aaah....Dave," Johnny interrupted, "I don't think you want to go that far. Her father is one of the guests of honor. He's the Police Chief. Let's just let him take care of her."

Dave looked surprised. "This...." he looked Deirdre up and down. "This slut is the daughter of our Chief of Police?"

"Fuck you, faggot," Deirdre spat at him.

Dave who was very rarely spiteful, smiled at her. "Never in a million years, sweetheart." Deirdre's face contorted in rage. Dave turned his back on her to pay attention to what his guards and Johnny were doing.

Johnny turned to Charley. "As discretely as possible go find the Chief and ask him to please come up here."

"Sure Johnny." Charley hurried from the room.

"You bastard," Deirdre screamed at him. "You would get my father involved."

"For you information, dear," Angie said, "my son is hardly a bastard being as how my husband and I had been married at least six years when he was born, and he has two older siblings."

"Oh, buzz off you ol' bat."

Johnny stepped up to her and backhanded her. "You will show respect for my mother," he growled.

Deirdre brought her hand up to touched her reddened cheek. "You'll pay for that, you cock sucking ass hole."

Angie who hadn't let go of her arm slapped her other cheek. "You will not use that kind of language in my house. Come, we will go to your father now."

"Let go of me, you old battleaxe." Deirdre screamed.

Her father rushed through the door at that moment."Deirdre!" he bellowed.

"You mind your manners. Apologize to Mrs. Paolini."

Deirdre froze. The only man in the world that she feared was her father.

~~~~~

When Tim heard the commotion in the next bedroom, he popped off the chair on which he'd collapsed a few minutes before. "I knew something was wrong," he yelled as he ran out the door. Joe wasn't quick enough to stop him. Tim burst into the room just in time to hear Deirdre say, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Paolini, he wouldn't be doing this if he hadn't been seduced by that faggot he's calling his boyfriend."

Tim froze, feeling every eye in the room turn to look at him. He blanched and looked at Johnny with an expression of sympathy and apology and then turned and fled from the room.

Johnny felt sick to his stomach, fury at Deirdre, embarrassment to be caught in such a situation with his ex-boss and remorse that he'd just let Tim run.

Chief Wilson was a man of action and quick to make snap decisions. He pulled out his communicator and told the officers on the street to apprehend the man dressed in a white tux and return him to the house. He turned on Johnny and said,"So get your butt down stairs and straighten things out with that young man."

Johnny saluted and ran from the room.

Chief Wilson took Deirdre's arm to lead her from the room. "What in hell are you doing here, Dee. I know for a fact that the invitation was addressed only to your mother and me. You are an incorrigible wench. You get in your car a leave the area. You hear me?"

Angie walking ahead of the Chief suggested that in might be fitting if she attended the ceremony. The Chief agreed and lead her into the back yard to sit between him and her mother.

Angie followed Johnny and stopped him at the bottom of the stairs. "You get yourself pulled together," she said, straightening his jacket and patting him on the arm. "This ceremony is due to start in less than five minutes. I'll take care of Timmy."

Johnny smiled at the name that only he used in addressing Tim. He knew she was telling him everything would be okay. Plus he dared not disobey his mother even if he was twenty-eight and an ex-police detective.

~~~

Tim managed to get half way down the block before a patrol car pulled up and two big burly officers stepped out of the car. One stepped on to the sidewalk and waited for Tim to approach him. Tim stopped a few feet from him staring belligerently into his eyes.

"Sir, you are not under arrest, but the Chief of Police has requested that we return you to the house," The cop informed him.

Tim pursed his lips, looked down and then back up at him. "Well, if I'm not under arrest, what's to stop me from continuing in the direction I was going?" he calmly asked.

"I'm sure that we could come up with some charge, if you insist."

Tim looked at the ground and then raised his head and studied the neighborhood and the sky above it as he thought. He could still hear that horrid woman's voice accusing him, moments ago, of having seduced Johnny. He'd never been called faggot before. It had stung him to his core. He thought about the desperate look in Johnny's eyes. And Johnny hadn't even called out for him as he'd fled. Tim looked at the young cop and shook his head. "I'm sorry you'll have to arrest me. I can't go back in there."

The cop made a small grimace. "Tim, the detective loves you. Why are you doing this?"

"How do you know my name? And how do you know what the detective wants?"

"Excuse me, but you are famous within the police force."

"How so?" Tim asked.

"You're the one that caught the heart of the elusive Detective Johnny Paolini."

"Right. I'm the one, the faggot that seduced the famous detective. But I think he's changed his mind officer so go ahead and arrest me. I am not going to be further humiliated by going back in that house."

"I'm sorry, but you will, even if we have to hog tie you and carry you in. We have our orders."

The other patrolman had been waiting beside the car. When he heard his partner raise his voice he strode over to them. Tim looked at him and back to the other cop. He held out his wrists. The cop shook his head and looked at his partner. Without speaking a word, they each grabbed one of Tim's arm's and lifted his feet off the ground. They marched to the house and in through front door.

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