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If you enjoy this chapter, be sure to check out Ben’s Weekend Camping Trip in the Camping/High School section of Nifty. It was written as a companion to this chapter and explores the dynamic between Benji and Evan when they were in Boy Scouts.

Chapter 19: Troop 165

The following day in Lynnwood Ben awoke at 8:30 to Avicii’s Wake Me Up on his morning playlist. He stretched out in his new bed, in his dreams John was still there beside him, but in reality, Ben was still adjusting to the 1600 miles and 2-hour time difference between them. Ben shut the music off and started the morning as he always did, sending John a message. Good morning babe, what are you up to today?

A couple of minutes later while he was still lying in bed he got a reply from John. Morning Benji! Sorry, I thought I would have Saturday off but Joel got a last-minute contract for a senior’s home and the parking lot. We just got on site so I’ll talk to you later ok? Love you.

Ben groaned, as much as he tried to get up early to talk to John or John stayed up late to be with him those days when their schedules didn’t align were upsetting. He sent a simple ❤️ ️emoji to John and threw down his phone in frustration, somewhat regretting he didn’t set his weekend wake alarm for earlier.

Pulling the covers back and now out of bed, Ben stood at his dresser in the shiny plain navy blue UA shorts from the Arc that he had worn to bed with no underwear and John’s Culver’s shirt. He pulled the shorts off, put on a pair of blue New Balance boxer briefs then slipped his favorite royal blue nylon UA shorts over them (it was the smaller pair that he creamed last night), put on some old white adidas socks, and went downstairs for breakfast.

Steven was on the couch in the living room watching Neil Cavuto on Fox News as Ben sat down at the kitchen table for breakfast. “Ben,” Steven shouted over the TV. “Don’t forget to mow the lawn if you’re going anywhere before the ceremony tonight. I also promised Paul the three of us would help set up the chairs and tables in the hall before everyone gets there, so we have to leave early.”

“Three of us?” Ben raised his eyebrows. “I thought Mom isn’t going to be back from Astoria until Sunday night?”

“Nick is coming with us too, he was Senior Patrol Leader of your troop just like you!” Steven crossed his arms and looked back to his program.

“Oh, of course, Nick!” Ben poured himself a glass of apple juice and thought about Evan. UW’s Spring Quarter had just finished and Ben was expecting Evan to be at his Troop’s 25th Anniversary Dinner if Evan wasn’t out of town again at another rowing championship. R u coming to the dinner at the hall tonight? Ben messaged Evan.

Yes, I have to take Liam there, my parents will be there later too. Does ur uniform still fit? Evan asked back.

I hope so 😭 Ben messaged back and laughed to himself. Evan did have a good point, considering Ben regularly wore John’s larger clothes now, he should probably try his uniform back on when he came inside from mowing the lawn and a shower.

After finishing his breakfast Ben immediately went out to the garage and opened it. He grabbed an extension cord from the wall and rolled it out from the lawn to the closest outlet on the exterior of the house up on the porch. When he was walking back to the garage he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of his dad’s dark Tundra pickup. He had to admit he looked pretty hot to himself in his favorite royal blue UA shorts and the matching blue Culver’s shirt. He never really wore his athletic wear outside of gym class and tennis in high school but he was now developing the body where it showed off nicely. Ben showed off his right bicep and squeezed it with his other hand still looking at himself in the reflection of the truck and smiled.

Enough fooling around looking like an idiot Ben thought to himself and he grabbed the trimmer out of the garage and plugged it in. When he turned around from doing the driveway edge he saw his elderly Asian neighbor standing on the sidewalk with her Pomeranian, Ben put down the trimmer and waved at her.

“Benji!” she shouted and the dog yelped. “I’m glad to see you are back home for the summer, I’ve been wanting to see how you are but you’re always off going somewhere! Who was that white boy who was here last week? That wasn’t Evan?”

“Sorry, Mrs. Ngyugen!” Ben laughed.

“Please, I’ve known you long enough that you can still call me Evelynn.” She smiled.

“Ok, yes. Sorry, I’ve been really busy since I got back from school and err that was..” Ben cleared his throat not knowing how she would react. “My boyfriend from Wisconsin, Johnny.”

Evelynn was still smiling at him. “I’m glad that you found love too, I knew you always would. Your brother Nick was quite the ladies' man. I saw him sneaking girls into his room with the emergency ladder into his window. But I never once told your dad!”

“Really?” Ben chuckled. “I guess I was still very little back then and I wouldn’t have known what was going on either!”

“It’s too bad you didn’t go to UW, Marianne is doing her MBA there right now.” Evelynn put down the dog that was starting to yap again and it ran into the freshly cut patch of grass Ben just trimmed, but it was still held back by the leash.

“Well, Evan is majoring in Business there right now, but I love Colorado too!” Ben nodded.

“Do you still sell popcorn? I can go back inside and get checkbook.”  Evelynn pulled the dog’s leash tight before it got closer to Ben.

“No, no!” Ben waved his hand. “We have our Troop Anniversary dinner tonight but I’m not in Boy Scouts anymore, if anything you can buy it from Liam when the time comes.”

Evelynn shook her head. “Oh, but his family, they can buy anything they want. You were always the modest and polite one, you shoveled the snow for us even before you knew about Michael’s back issues. But Maddie I think has to go bathroom now so I better go home.”

“Okay, I’m mostly at home now so feel free to drop by if you see me.” Ben waved at her as she walked back across the street.

Ben pulled out his phone from his shorts to see if John at least read his message back, but it just said delivered. What a busy boy Ben thought to himself but it struck him that he was doing work outside just like John right now in the late spring sun probably in his shorts too. Ben held up his phone and sent John a selfie in the matching blue outfit with John’s Culver's shirt and the trimmer in the background. If there was anything that would get a rise out of John this morning it better be Ben wearing John’s t-shirt that he slept in.

“What are you doing!” Steven yelled at Ben from the door to the garage. “I heard the trimmer for all of 2 minutes, you haven’t even started with the mower yet, I thought you hurt yourself or something. This isn’t like you at all!”

“I’m sorry Dad, Mrs. Ngyugen from across the street wanted to say hi.” Ben shrugged and put his phone back into his shorts.

Steven was still visibly angry he had to get up from his program. “OK, please just finish this before we have to leave at 5:00!” Steven disappeared back into the house and let the door slam shut.

Ben picked up the trimmer again and figured his dad was right, he was pretty distracted this morning and it was out of character for him. He finished the edges around the front and plugged the mower in to finish the rest of the lawn. When he was done with the front he closed the garage and brought everything to the backyard. His phone buzzed as he was mowing again, but Ben didn’t let it distract him this time. He put everything back in the garage after mowing the backyard and closed the garage door before pulling out his phone.

🤤 was what John had sent back followed by: Lunchtime, Joel ran to Qboda to get food, so here I am on the curb by the trailer boned up at you Benji in my t-shirt and those shorts. I wish u were here wearing that ready to slip this between ur cute lips. The picture that followed was John showing a prominent bulge in his gray UA sweatpants that were semi-damp and his rubber boots at the top of the frame.

Fuck can we please FT for a sec? Ben sent back.

John called him and Ben answered right away. John was wearing a light brown Carhartt t-shirt that was also still wet and his face was spattered with specs of dirt. “Hey gorgeous,” John rubbed something out of his eyes. ”Just finished lunch but I have 5 minutes till we start again.” John held up the phone again to show off he was still wet and Ben turned the light on in the garage before showing John his outfit again.

“Are you home tonight?” Ben pleaded. “I have this big Boy Scout thing and all the alumni will be there but I’ll try to get home early!”

John shook his head. “No, we’re having dinner at my aunt’s place and you know my mom, she won’t shut her mouth until well after midnight, and after what happened last night I’m guessing I’ll be the main subject of a very long discussion.”

“Oh no I almost forgot, what did they do to you?” Ben asked.

“Grounded.” John frowned. “No car for two weeks. I can’t go anywhere without Joel. But my dad made it very clear I’m not being punished for not being straight or liking you, but for lying about the purpose of the trip. For the two weeks I was gone they figured two weeks was suitable. I was going to tell them all more about you but then Joel got the work call over breakfast, so we hurriedly had to get ready for work.”

The sound of a compressor being started up in the background quickly started to drown out John’s voice. “Ok, break time is over, I’ll try to call you on the way back home from here, love you my boy in blue.”

“Love you too, babe.” Ben quickly tried to get in before the call dropped. Again he sighed with disappointment. He thought the weekend was going to be when they had more time to spend together, but clearly, he was wrong.

Ben made his way back into the house and his dad was in the kitchen. “Ben, I hope you’re done,” Steven said with a grin on his face. “I’ll make us some sandwiches for lunch in about an hour but don’t touch those trays of Nanaimo bars in the fridge! They are for tonight!”

“Yes, front and back are done, I’ll be upstairs.” Ben went upstairs to his bathroom and washed his face. It would make more sense to shower before he changed into his uniform so he kept the sweaty blue shirt and shorts on. He looked in the mirror and stretched out before feeling his pecs through the cotton t-shirt. Was he really starting to be the object of his own fantasies? He had been skinny all his life until now. He was never really picked on in school but when it came to standing up for himself and others he always used humor and his words. Ever since he met John he was slowly transforming into one of those high school jocks like Evan he would jerk off to before he went to bed. Now outside of the gym, he was dressing out in the open like them too and he didn’t know if it was for good or bad.

Back in his room and looking at the mirror by his bed he nodded to himself ‘This must be good because it feels good’. He was already hard now and he picked up the cummed royal blue shorts he jerked off in with John on Facetime last night. The front of the shorts was a huge mess of his now dried-up cum but the back of the shorts was still usable.

Ben pulled down the royal blue shorts and underwear he was wearing to down below his knees and took a pillow to lay back on at the foot of his bed while still looking in the mirror. Grabbing the old shorts he draped the nylon over his uncut hardon. Thinking back to John in the wet sweatpants he started to jerk the outside of the shorts across his dick moaning “Johnnny” as the soft fabric slipped across his sensitive tip.

Opening his mouth now, still looking at the mirror he imagined he was doing just what John wanted, taking him in between his warm lips while wearing everything that was blue. He stuck his right fist at the front of his mouth while still looking into the mirror pretending it was John’s thick 6-inch cock. Ben wanted it deep inside his mouth and to take John in again the other way, but he could feel he was getting close as he was feverishly wanking his cock with his left hand.

"Oh, Johnny, you're gonna make me cum!" Ben moaned to himself, his eyes locked on his own reflection in the mirror. He could feel the warm, sticky liquid building up inside him, just like the last time he had wanked himself while on Facetime with John.

As his mind raced ahead, Ben began to wonder why he felt this need to be like one of those high school jocks. Was it just the thrill of being desired by others, finally becoming the center of attention after years of blending into the background? Or was it something deeper, a longing to belong and fit in, to be valued not just for his words but for his physical presence?

He squeezed his cock tighter, the sensation of the nylon fabric sliding over his shaft amplifying his arousal. He imagined the satisfied smile on John's face as he neared his climax, and he knew there was only one way to end this experience – by exploding deep within the blue fabric.

Now the incredible feeling overcame his twinkish body covered in blue and he gasped out loud. “Fuuuucckkk” looking back at the mirror. Ben pulled back the shorts from the tip of his dick as he watched it erupt. His cum fired upwards from the tip but all the shots landed on the now really messy shorts. He grabbed his phone and sent John a picture of him with his hands still wrapped inside the spunked shorts at the base of his dick. Look what you made me do! He sent with the picture.

Ben could now spend the rest of the day without that nagging feeling of needing to nut, but John would likely have blue balls for a long time after opening the picture. John would be away from home all night and then have to get up for mass in the morning with no time to release. Ben wiped the rest of the cum from his tip with the shorts and pulled up the shorts he was wearing before depositing his cum rag shorts straight into the hamper.

Steven called Ben back down for lunch and after Ben was finished eating he went back upstairs to take that shower he desperately needed. It was 2:30 and he should leave plenty of time to figure out his outfit for tonight should his uniform not fit.

After getting out of the shower, Ben was still naked when he saw John’s message: I hate you so much! 🔵 No seriously, long day, we’re just cleaning the equipment and putting it back in the truck now. 45 minutes to shower and get changed for my Aunt’s! The message was from only 8 minutes ago so Ben called John hoping they could Facetime again.

“Hey, Benji!” John answered. The Morgan Wallen song ‘98 Braves’ was blaring over the Silverado’s stereo and Joel could be heard singing along in the background. “Can you turn that down for a bit? I’m on a call. Benji, why’d you do that to me? I seriously can’t do anything about this right now! Then we have mass first thing in the morning!” John had at least wiped his face before they got in the truck but Ben still found him massively cute when his hair was still wet.

Ben chuckled and tried to keep the towel up with his free hand as he ran into his room and onto his bed. “Sorry Johnny, couldn’t help it, I figured if we couldn’t do it tonight I might as well get it over with before I showered. I was all sweaty from cutting the grass.”

“Mhm, you’re naked now too.” John looked over at Joel who couldn’t hold back his laughter. “We’re just around the corner from the house now though so I gotta get out and help Joel with the trailer.”

“Okay. Let me know when you go to bed. Can I call you after church tomorrow? I love you.” Ben hoped he hadn’t hung up yet.

“Yes, I love you.” John could be heard opening the truck door and the call went back to Ben’s home screen.

Ben was slightly happier now knowing John would at least let him know when he went to bed, he threw off the towel and put on his Andrew Christian briefs, switchback scout pants, and green BSA socks. He knew these would have no problem fitting him, but the thing he was most concerned about was his shirt which was still a men’s medium. The shirt inside the display case was his main uniform as a youth but the second shirt he had worn as a staff member to camp would be more appropriate for tonight. Ben buttoned up the shirt all the way up to the collar. It felt slightly tighter than he remembered around his neck but still manageable. Relieved everything fit, Ben took the shadow box off the wall to get his Eagle Scout Medal.

The staff uniform only had his Mt. Baker Council patch, troop number, Lodge 338 Order of the Arrow patch, and a handful of other badges so it was a bit bare even after he pinned his Eagle Scout Medal below the square knot badge. He also had to grab the green epaulets from the shadowbox as the camp uniform was missing them and he didn’t know where the extra ones were. Last was his neckerchief and woggle, he found them in his dresser and looked at himself in the mirror again when they were on.

Smiling to himself in the mirror he snapped the last picture of himself for the day to John. One thing was missing though, he almost forgot his name tag and of course, it was in the shadow box as well. He unpinned the simple green nametag that simply read “Smedstad” and pinned it on the uniform he was wearing. Now that his complete uniform was on, he closed the shadow box since he was finished with it.

Ben looked at his phone: Just out of the shower. Love a man in uniform! 🎖️ Have fun! John replied. Ben resisted the urge to think of John naked and laid back on his bed to relax a bit before going out.

Having almost fallen asleep, Ben was startled by his dad trudging up the stairs passing by his door on the way to Nick’s old room. “Of course, you can’t find it, it’s up here!” Steven shouted downstairs. “Ben, You better get ready, Nick is here. Oh, you’re already changed.”

Ben got back up to comb his hair and brush his teeth. He met Nick downstairs in a red Troop 165 Philmont fleece jacket.

“Look at my baby brother, Eagle Scout! Everything still fits you! But look at me!” Nick lifted up the sweater and the scout shirt he was wearing underneath it looked almost ready to lose its buttons and burst open.

Ben couldn’t contain his laughter and he wondered why Nick didn’t just wear his Scoutmaster uniform from when he volunteered with a troop in Issaquah, as his dad came back down the stairs and handed Nick his Eagle Scout Medal from his shadowbox.

Steven shook his head. “What is it about today? All of a sudden my grown sons act like they’re 5 and can’t even get simple things done by themselves! And look, it's already 10 past. Please get those desserts out of the fridge and I’ll meet you in the truck.”

The three of them arrived at the scout hall and Ben carried the Nanaimo Bars into the canteen fridge. The place hadn’t changed at all in the year and a half he had last been here and there were still some of his photos on the notice board he took when he was 14. Evan was pulling the tables out of the storage closet and Ben went to help Liam, who was sporting a brand new Den Chief badge on his sleeve.

Liam looked much more athletic and attractive in his uniform than Evan did when he was younger. “Hey you made Star, you didn’t tell me that two weeks ago when I was over!” Ben stood in front of the door and smiled at Evan’s brother.

“Ben!” Liam directed a couple of his cub scouts to carry a couple of the plastic tables out the door for Evan to set up and gave Ben a warm smile and fist bump. “Things just aren’t the same here without you and Evan.”

“Oh, where’s Walker? I thought he would be a great Senior Patrol Leader.” Ben scratched his head.

“It’s not him, we just don’t have that many teens my age for Patrol Leaders and other positions who stayed in scouts. COVID and all that online stuff with recruiting, remember?” Liam shrugged.

“Oh yeah, I’m really lucky my freshman college year was back to normal. But there’s Walker, I’m gonna go talk to him ok?” Ben passed on the next table to a couple more Cub Scouts and went over to Walker who was talking to the Scoutmaster, Paul.

“Benji!” Paul exclaimed with joy, patting Ben on the shoulder when he approached. “My friends in Chief Seattle had nothing but good things to say about you from Camp Parsons. I’m kinda at a loss why you didn’t apply to staff at Fire Mountain this year.”

“Engineering School really kicked my butt and I wasn’t really thinking of the summer being away in Colorado and all.” Ben gritted his teeth hoping Paul wasn’t upset.

“That’s understandable,” Paul nodded. “But if you have nothing to do next year I hope you’ll consider it. Everyone here still talks about you. You remember Walker of course?”

“Of course I do!” Ben smiled. Walker reminded Ben a bit of himself, he was slim, about 5 '8”, with big flapping ears, blue eyes, blonde hair in a side combover, freckles, and a big wide smile. There was also the added detail that Walker liked other guys, just like him when he was the Senior Patrol Leader.

“What are you guys doing, are you dyslexic?” Paul turned and yelled across the hall to a bunch of First Class Scouts hanging something. “It’s 25 not 52, Steven please help them fix it!” Paul wandered off towards them and Walker shook his head.

“So, you’re a Life Scout now and SPL. Are you looking forward to going to Gonzaga?” Ben grinned at Walker nervously, hoping them both being gay didn’t change the friendship they had between them.

Walker nodded. “Of course I am, I’ll get to see my dad every week, he lives in Coeur d'Alene! You’re going to school in Denver right?”

“Golden, it’s just outside of Denver, it’s a little bit of a different lifestyle from Seattle, but I love it! What are you hoping to major in again?” Ben asked.

“Biomedical Science, yours?” Walker played a bit with his hair.

“Environmental Engineering,” Ben replied.

Paul clapped his hands together loudly. “Everyone! It’s almost 6 o’clock, people will start arriving soon to start at 6:30! The tables are up but I don’t see enough chairs out and there are dust bunnies all over the floor!”

Ben liked his old scoutmaster Paul, and Paul thought highly of Ben when he was in the troop. Paul was in his late 40s, Taiwanese-American, and was the manager of the local H-Mart Asian grocery store. He was, however, a bit of a control freak, and Paul was always running around like a headless chicken. Tonight was no different and Ben pitched in to help unfold the rest of the chairs with Walker. Nick also was running the large dust mop along the floor, working up a sweat in his fleece jacket.

When the hall was ready, Paul handed the seating chart for the VIPs to Walker. “Ben, you know everyone on the Committee I think still? Can you greet them and help them find their table?” Paul asked.

Ben nodded and looked at the chart. He was going to be sat right at the front with the current Patrol Leaders Council and right next to Walker. His dad sat beyond the Committee with the ex-scoutmasters and Nick and Evan sat with alumni and the rest of the troop. After everyone was in their seats and the side tables were filled with the food everyone brought for the potluck, Ben sat at the head tables next to Walker. Ben didn’t feel worthy of such an honor, but he knew this was Paul’s doing and went with it.

Paul got up to the podium and cleared his throat. “Evening everyone! If you don’t know me, I’m the current Scoutmaster of Troop 165, Paul Lee, and yes you might know me from H-Mart too! It is an honor to welcome Executive Members of the Council, the Committee, Parents, Family, Scoutmasters past and present, some of our 61 Eagle Scouts, Alumni, and last but not least scouts of Troop 165 and Pack 2350.”

“Before I begin the ceremony I would like to start with the land use acknowledgment. We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this area, the Snohomish people, and their successors, the Tulalip Tribes. Since time immemorial, they have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water. We will strive to be honest about our past mistakes and bring about a future that includes their people, stories, and voices to form a more just and equitable society.”

“Now, in 1997 there were only a handful of adventure-oriented troops in Snohomish and King County…” Paul's voice trailed off in Ben’s mind as Walker jiggled his leg at Ben’s under the table. He knew Walker had a mild form of ADHD but this was different, almost deliberate. Ben looked down between them, now that Walker had Ben’s attention he placed his hand around Ben’s hand behind the tablecloth. Ben pulled his hand back and glared at Walker only to distinctly hear Paul say the words “Eagle Scouts” and looked over to Paul motioning them all to stand up. Ben stood up to the applause along with Evan, Nick, and about 2 dozen other people in the hall. Sitting back down, Ben mouthed “What??” to Walker who just grinned at him. Ben folded his arms and looked up at his dad who looked annoyed at him for being so inattentive at one of the head tables.

“Okay, bet you’ve heard enough from me and are ready to eat.” Paul was finally reaching the conclusion of his speech. “Why don’t we start with this table and go around clockwise? You guys are looking a bit restless and hungry.” Paul pointed at the PLC table and picked up his papers.

Ben got up and followed Walker to the food. Troop 165 was a multicultural troop and the PLC had dibs at anything they wanted. Paul must have picked up everything on the menu at H-Mart and there was a variety of other food to choose from. Ben grabbed Lumpia, one piece of Popeyes Chicken, California Rolls, Lasagna, and some vegetable Chow Mein. He encountered Walker getting some salad at the end of the food tables.

“What was that about? Ben whispered to him trying not to embarrass either of them in front of the rest of the PLC.

“Nothing,” Walker sniffled. “I was just wondering if we can talk in private tonight. Maybe we can go to Dick’s Drive-In for shakes after this like you and Evan used to take me and his brother after meetings.

“Okay,” Ben sounded relieved. “That wasn’t that weird of a question, you didn’t need to be so silly about it. Do you have a car now? My dad drove us here with my older brother, I don’t think you’ve even met him. He was an Eagle Scout even before you joined. I’ll go ask Evan then.”

“No!” Walker shook his head quickly. “Just you Ben, and yes I can drive us.”

“Okay then, I’ll just tell my dad.” Ben shrugged and walked over to his dad with his plate.

“Ben, what were you guys doing up there? It was very distracting and you were embarrassing Paul! Again, this isn’t like you at all!” Steven glared up at his son.

Ben shrugged again and offered his dad one of the spring rolls on his plate. “Just some weird immature teen stuff I wanted no part of. Walker and I are going to get some milkshakes after this. I’ll be right home after.”

Steven took the spring roll and dipped it into the sweet and sour sauce. “Walker? Does he have his license?”

Ben nodded. “I think so, it shouldn't matter because I have my full permit anyway.”

“Okay, fine.” Steven relented, he was happy to just be rid of Ben at this point to stop his family from further embarrassment. “Just remember we have church at 9 tomorrow.”

“Yes, I know.” Ben walked back to his table where he nodded his head to Walker who was in the middle of eating a chicken wing.

On his dessert run, Ben found Evan getting his first plate. “Oh look at you, Man of the Hour!” Evan said sarcastically. “I think I heard your name 20 times today. At least they had us Eagle Scouts seated together, but why are you up there? I’m even on the Scouter Reserve and you aren’t!” Evan grabbed at the Eagle Scout Medal on his own shirt while Nick shook his head with an overflowing plate across from them. Evan was clearly jealous of Ben’s special treatment vs being on one of the last tables to eat, second to last before Ben’s dad and the Scoutmasters.

“You think I asked for this!” Ben raised his voice and the entire hall turned to look at them.

“Whoah!” Nick came around the tables and got in between them. “You guys are supposed to be best friends, what is this?”

Ben threw up his hands. “I don’t know.”

Steven immediately shot out of his chair when he saw half the Eagle table was sitting back down and his table started going up. He grabbed Ben hard by the arm as he got close. “What the hell is wrong with you today? I’m seriously considering taking you back home. Are you on drugs?” Steven demanded.

“No!” Ben pleaded. “I was just about to tell Evan that Walker and I are gonna leave as soon as we can to go to Dick’s for milkshakes.”

“Were you going to invite us Mr. VIP, or am I and my brother not in that exclusive club anymore?” Evan shook his head.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Evan, stop. You can join us in your car if you want.”

Steven started to back Evan away. “Just let them go, I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Dad, do you not remember one of the first rules of YPT?” Nick interrupted them. “Walker is only 17 if he’s still a Boy Scout! Evan has to go with them.”

“What, really? I thought you were talking about someone else, Ben!” Steven smacked his head. “Convince Evan to go with you then if you guys are leaving.”

Evan took a deep breath. “OK, I’ll go with you. I’ll tell my parents then to take Liam home.”

Ben went back to Walker with his plate and sat down. “Change of plans, Evan has to come with us, not my call. When everyone realized you are still only 17 I had no choice. That should have been at the top of my mind too, sorry.”

Walker frowned but accepted it. “Okay, I’ll ask Paul when it looks like I can go.”

Shortly after 8 some of the Council and Committee members were starting to leave for the night. Walker went up to Paul who was getting a drink to ask if he could leave. Paul let him go early as Walker was one of the first scouts who showed up that evening at 4:30 and helped him carry in some of the stuff from H-Mart.

Walker and Ben went over to Evan whose attitude seemed to have changed since he last saw Ben and he was joking around with the other alumni. Ben tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a hand gesture they were leaving. Evan waved goodbye to his table and followed the two to the parking lot.

“We’ll take my truck.” Walker took out his remote for his Nissan Frontier. “I can drop you back here after if you want.” Walker got in his seat, quickly entered something in the GPS, and let them in with Ben getting in the front passenger seat and Evan climbing in the back. Ben was relieved the ceremony was over and took off his necker, undid the top of his shirt, and put the necker into the cupholder.

“Uhh, where are we going?” Ben asked. Walker was turning toward the interstate and Dick’s was in the opposite direction off the 99 next to the Winco. Ben looked at the address in the navigation system and it was in Seattle.

“I wanna go to the one further in the city for a change. The one here isn’t one of the original ones.” Walker looked at his GPS.

“Okay, whatever.” Ben turned the AC a bit higher.

“Ben?” Evan asked from the back.

“Yeah?” Ben replied.

Evan sighed. “I apologize for what happened and for getting your dad mad at you. I’ve always known that Paul favored you over me and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I just didn’t expect it to be on full display like that, and everyone mentioning you when they saw me sent me over the edge. We should never argue like that again, OK?”

“Thank You. You’re right, that shouldn’t get in the way of our friendship, but you know I wouldn’t have made Senior Patrol Leader or even Eagle without you either.” Ben felt something in his eye and rubbed it.

Evan also wiped a tear from his eyes, getting more emotional than usual. “Thanks, Ben. You saying that really means a lot.”

Walker took the exit at Northgate, but he passed by the Dick’s on the left and continued southwest toward Puget Sound.

“Walker!” Ben shouted. “Where are we going? You’re taking us to the beach!”

“Yes..” Walker kept his hands tightly on the wheel as he navigated the S curve down to Golden Gardens Beach. “This is really where I wanted to take you.” Walker finally pulled off the road and stopped in one of the parking lots facing the water. The were still people on the beach as the sun was starting to set, but the three of them were mostly alone in the parking lot. Ben undid his seatbelt and went to stand in front of the truck to look at the scenery.

“Evan, or uh Mr. Cheung?” Walker asked. “Do you want to take a walk for like 15 minutes? I just wanted to talk to Ben alone.”

“Okay, sure.” Evan shrugged and got out. “Just don’t take off and leave me here.”

Walker got out and leaned up against the front of the truck with Ben. “So how did you do it? What made you come out at college?”

Ben could see now why Walker was so anxious when he first sat next to him. “You haven’t come out since we talked? You could talk to me about this in a message if you want. I thought you had my number.”

“No.. I couldn’t after I got elected SPL, I wanted to talk to you more and ask what it was like being out at school but I just couldn’t find the courage to. Then later, I saw how happy you were at college with your friends and I wondered how that would be possible with me going to a place like Gonzaga.” Walker peered down at his shoes.

“Walker!” Ben reached out and took his hand as tears were rolling down Walker’s face. “No one should make you feel like there’s something you can’t do or a place you can’t go because you’re gay. But the decision on when you want to come out is yours and should be yours alone. It doesn't have to be before college, or even at college. I didn’t come out to my family until college because I was worried about how my dad would react. I’m sorry if I didn’t talk to you beyond thanks for the support when you told me on Instagram, I had like over 100 DMs and comments to go through that day. But why did it happen when I was in college? It was because I met Johnny.”

“You have a boyfriend?” Walker wiped the tears from his face. “How come you never posted about him, I’m sorry for… never mind..” Walker took back his hand.

Ben took out his phone and showed Walker his lock screen. It was a picture that Connor took of Ben and John both in their Mines hoodies, arms around each other on the field during E-Days.

“Wow, you guys are so cute! Matching shirts too!” Walker smiled. “But if you were out, why did you never talk or post about him?”

“He was not…” Ben grinned. “Until last night.”

“What? How long have you been together?” Walker was confused.

“8 months. Johnny was in the closet to his family until now. We agreed to keep it offline in case they found out. He was out at school though, he is bisexual.”

“Where is he now?” Walker asked.

“Wisconsin.” Ben looked up at the sunset as the last of the orange glow slipped behind the Olympic Mountains to the west. “Now was there anything else? You have my number, don’t ever be scared of asking me anything, I’ll make time for you.”

“Can I get a hug? I missed you, we all did!” Walker turned toward Ben.

“Of course.” Ben went in for a short hug and when they turned around Evan was already back.

“I know it’s only been 12 minutes, but it’s now dark and I left my jacket in my car at the hall.” Evan was counting down on his Apple Watch.

“That’s OK, I think we’re all done here, but Evan! Is there something you want to tell Walker and me before we go get milkshakes?” Ben looked at Evan eagerly.

Getting a hint of what their conversation was about from the hug, Evan glared directly at Ben and pointed his finger at him. “Don’t you dare!”

Ben shrugged at Walker. “Okay, that’s fine. Walker, are you okay to drive up to the Dick’s up the hill or do you want me to take over?”

“What did you do to him, Ben?” Evan asked.

“Nothing! Everyone is just a little emotional tonight including you!” Ben replied.

“You can drive if you want Ben, I think you almost pissed your pants when I went around that curve.” Walker laughed and handed Ben his keys. The three of them got back in the truck to talk more over milkshakes at Dick’s.