Hey! This is the fourth installment of the re-release of Dan, The Man. I am currently working on editing and re-posting the series of Dan, The Man and Starting Over Again, its sequel. I hope you enjoy it. If you are a second time reader, I hope you enjoy it again.

I must stress this is a work of fiction. Any similarities is strictly coincidental. All rights to this story belongs to the author. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. This is intended for a mature audience. If you are under 18 (or 21 in some areas), please go away (that's not my opinion however). If you don't like the idea of two college guys falling in love, please go away. Thanks. And now...
 

Dan, The Man Part IV
"Recovering"
By Joey E
 

The Morning

I woke up, blinded by the sunlight again. I had forgotten to put down the blinds again. Damn!

Suddenly, I felt the warmth around me. I remembered then who was with me. Roland. I was still in Ro's arms, with my back against his stomach, his arms around me. I suddenly smiled to myself and thought what a good roommate Ro was. Then it happened.

I became aware that my roommate had wood, and it was poking me right in the butt. Then I got wood from that, and really got nervous. Fortunately, I was on the outside of the bed, and jumped out of bed and practically ran out to the bathroom in the hall. I felt so embarrassed. However, it was perfectly natural to have that happen I guess. Morning wood that is.

To my surprise, Ro was still sleeping on my bed when I got back. He had to be somewhere at 9. It was 8 now. Oh, well, his alarm will go off any moment. I went out to the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats and went back into the living room and flipped on VH-1..

The first face I saw on TV was that of none other than Brian of the Backstreet Boys, singing "Quit Playing Games With My Heart". I sighed out loud. I had a weakness when it came to him for some reason. My roommate came out to the living room, just waking up. He saw what I was watching, and shook his head in hopelessness.

"What?" I asked, laughing.

"I have no comment," he said, pouring himself some Raisin Bran, coming back into the Living Room.

I just had to tell him how much I appreciated him staying with me last night. It was now or never.

"Hey, uh, Ro," I said, turning towards him to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for staying with me last night. Not many people would risk it with me, now," I said.

"Oh, come on, Joe. You're no different than you were before. I mean, I have to admit, I didn't feel that comfortable doing it, but you were in pain, man. I felt bad for you," he said.

I just nodded and smiled. Enough said on that one. We each took turns in the bathroom, showering and then he left for his class, and I turned on my keyboards and the Mac for the first time in a while. I had a lot of experiences to inspire me this time. I couldn't decide which one I wanted to tackle. I could have composed an angry tune for Kris, a sad tune for myself, or a happy tune for Dan. I just played and fooled around, and came up with a slow ballad that was happy and yet had some sadness in it and decided it was to be for Dan, the Man. My man. I played around with it some more, and composed the verse and the refrain in less than an hour. I was totally satisfied with it, hearing some lyrics in my head as well. I knew that I shouldn't try to arrange it right then. I like to sit on pieces, wait a while to see if there's anything that I can do to make them better before I start to arrange them. So, I saved it on one of the keyboards and left my bedroom, feeling satisfied.

The phone rang just as I was walking out of the room.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Joe there?"

Instead of saying this is he, I felt like playing around with Dan, who was calling.

"Uh, I think so, just a sec, let me go see...."

Pause.

"Joe," I called out.

"Yeah?" I answered,

"You got a phone call."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

"Hello?" I said into the phone finally.

My gag worked, Dan was laughing on the other end. "Oh, good old Joe's back. Was afraid you might lose some of your corny humor in this ordeal," he said.

"Nah, you're not that lucky," I said.

Dan laughed. "Listen, dude," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to call you last evening. I forgot to when eight rolled around. But I did try to call at about 11PM, but no one answered."

"Yeah, we were out. It's okay, man. How are you feeling today?"

"Better, now that you called," I said. "Actually, though, I did have a rough night, man."

"Well, is it okay if I come over to see you now? I've been wanting to see you!" he said, excitedly.

"Yeah, right now!" I said, suddenly excited again. I had been dying to see him too.

We hung up and he was over in less than five minutes. I closed the door after he came in and we stood and kissed. I still had a small cut on my lip, but I didn't care. I wanted to kiss him so bad. I knew then that I was feeling much better. :) We slowly walked up the steps together, holding hands. It was our first time being alone since I had gotten out of the hospital. We needed that time.

"So, tell me about this rough night," he said, as he opened the back door. I knew the signal for a smoke. I grabbed my pack and went out back with him. I lit his and lit mine.

"Okay. Well, I had a nightmare about someone coming into my room with a knife, trying to stab me. I couldn't see the face, but the body size reminded me of Kris. Right before he stabbed me, I woke up in a sweat, screaming." I said, closing my eyes, remembering almost every detail of it again. "I get scared, Dan when I'm alone at night," I said. "I start thinking about what happened to me the other night, how much it hurt, you know. It's not the best memory in the world," I said, taking a drag.

He wrapped his arms around me, coming from behind, resting his chin on my shoulders. It felt so good to be in his arms, to have him guarding me. I leaned back into him slightly.

"Babe, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," he said, kissing me softly on the neck. "But I'll make sure that you're not left alone tonight."

"Mmm..how are you going to do that?"

"Mind if I sleep over tonight?" he asked. I could detect a smile on his face when he asked that.

"No, not at all," I said, turning around, kissing him on the lips.

"OH GOD!" I heard from inside the apartment. "Even at Noon!"

"Shut the fuck up," I said, laughing.

"Good morning, to you too," Kevin replied.

"Getting back to the question you asked me," I said. "I'll have to ask Ro about it first, but I don't think he'll mind."

Our cigarettes done, we stepped back inside the apartment. "So, bro, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know," I answered.

"Do you want to take things slow, after all, you should still be resting," he said, sitting down on the couch.

"Nah, I'm bored to death, man! I need to get out and do something!" I said, standing up again.

"Okay, well, how about this? I need to get some of my film stuff done this afternoon. But it shouldn't take long. How about I go there now, and the we can go out later this evening."

I was slightly disappointed to not spend more time with him, but the thought of going out in the evening was too good to be mad at. "You know what we should do, Dan?" I asked.

"We should go out where we can be accepted for who we are, man. In fact, I've made up my mind!" I exclaimed. "We're going to Woody's (a gay bar/club in Philadelphia, PA)!"

Dan laughed, nervously. "I don't know about that dude," he said shaking his head.

"Why not man? We keep wanting to find a place where we can be ourselves. This is a good one to start with," I said. "What do you say?"

Dan thought hard for a moment. He turned to face Joe again, and grinned. "Why not, dude? Let's go for it," he said, smiling broadly. God he was cute when he smiled.

"Cool!" I said. Dan got up from his seat, and walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the lips. I didn't let the pain from my cut lip bother me. This was still too good to be true in my book. I had a boyfriend who actually was cute and who actually really cared about me as much as I cared about him.

"Well, I'll come over when I'm done. It shouldn't be any later than 7PM," he said, walking out the door.

"Cool," I responded. I turned to walk back up the steps, only to turn back around and yell, "Dan!!"

Dan turned around and began to walk back to my door. I closed the door once he was back in and put my arms around him, and whispered in his ear, "I love you, man."

Dan looked awfully relieved when I said that. Still holding me, he turned his head and whispered in my ear, " I love you, Joe. More than you'll ever know."

We broke the embrace, and I reopened the front door. "I'll see you at 7," Dan yelled as he walked to his car. In the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking towards my apartment from the side.
 

The Afternoon
 

"Hey Joe," the voice said. I turned to meet those beautiful blue eyes of Neil's.

"Hey Neil!" I said. "How goes it?"

"It's going fine! How have you been feelling man? You're looking better, dude," he said, looking me over.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better, except for this," I said, pointing to the cut on my lip.

"That's great, man. Hey, my brother is coming down to visit today in about an hour. If you don't have anything to do, drop by. I told him about you and what you went through."

Wondering what I was going to do for the next five hours was just answered at least for one of them. "Sure, man! I'll drop by like 3?" I asked.

"Three sounds good to me," Neil said, smiling.

"Cool, I'll talk to you later."

It was only one now. I was feeling kinda tired, still. So I went into my bedroom, and set my alarm for 2:30PM just incase I really did fall asleep and l laid in bed. I felt my eyes closing and before I knew it, the alarm was beeping. Well, that's one way to kill time, I thought to myself. Sleep through it. I giggled at my own little thought, corny as it may be.

Even though I wasn't meeting someone to date, I thought I would at least make an attempt to look semi-presentable to Neil's younger brother. I put on a nice pair of 501's and a Quicksilver t-shirt.

I walked over to Neil's apartment, only 10 doors down and knocked on his door.

I was greeted with a smaller version of Neil. And to tell you the truth, the smaller version of Neil actually looked better than Neil! Short brown hair, green eyes, puppy dog eyes, about three inches taller than me, and about 140lbs. Needless to say, I was speechless. I tried to cover it, but failed miserably.

"Uh....hey, uh, is Neil around?" I asked.

"Yeah, he is.  I'm his brother Tom," he said, extending his hand. I shook it, firmly as always. He gave me the same in return. "You must be Joe," he said.

"That would be me," I said, spreading my arms out in display.

He smiled and said, "Come on in."

Neil was there and so was another kid, who looked to be Tom's age.

"Oh yeah, Joe. This is my boyfriend Steve. Steve, this is my brother's friend Joe," he said.

Steve got up from his chair and walked up to me and shook my hand.

"Good to meet you, man," Steve said.

"Hey Joe, would you like a beer?" Neil yelled from the kitchen.

"Nah, man, thanks, though."

We got to talking. I found Tom was a freshmen, going to University of Delaware, not sure about his major yet. I also discovered that Steve was also from U of D and that's where they met. They had actually met, though, on a gay chat channel on IRC. Only to discover that they were on the same floor of the same dorm in the same wing. Talk about coincedence!

Through it all, I noticed, Neil was very supportive of his brother and his boyfriend. He was very protective of them. I couldn't blame him. They both looked like babies, needing protection. One small thing that bothered me, however, was that I was getting glances from Steve that I really didn't want. I tried to ignore them, but every now and then I looked back at him. Steve wasn't a conventional good looking guy. He was handsome, but very innocent and young looking. I coudln't try to explain it. He just looked so pure and clean. Every time I would talk, he would look at me intensely, trying to pry into my brain, I think.

Soon we got to talking about Dan, and what I had been through for the past week. It wasn't easy going through what ahppened a few nights ago, but I made it for the first time without shedding any tears. I was happy about that actually. It was a sign.

We then ordered pizza and talked some more. The pizza came and went by the way of our mouths to our stomachs. And soon after that, I looked at my watch. 6:45.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed. "Where the hell the did the time go?"

"Well time flies when you're having fun," Steve said, looking directly at me. "Doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, that's what they say," I said, in a questioning sort of way of his sanity.

"Well, Joe, thanks for stopping over and meeting my brother and his friend," he said, getting up when I got up to leave.

"No problem, thanks for having me over," I said. "By the way, Dan and I are going out for the first time to Philly to Woody's tonight!"

"Cool," Tom said, smiling. "We might be stopping in there later, too."

"Well, if you do," I said. "Look for us man!"

I left the apartment, just in time to see Dan getting out of his car.
 

The Evening
 

"Yo, Dan!" I yelled, before he had a chance to notice me.

Dan turned around, and smiled when he saw my face. "Hey, it's Joe. Joe, the man!" He said, almost running over, walking very fast to where I was standing.

"What's up?" I asked. "How's the film project coming?"

He laughed. "Well, I left the project because I was afraid that I would just throw it out the window. Not too good, if you must know."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, man. Do you need more time?" I asked. Even though I wanted to spend time with him, I wanted him to complete what he needed to get done.

"No, another person in my group took over. It's in his hands now," he said.

We went into my apartment. Kev and Ro were playing the game with James Bond in it on the Nintendo 64. Dan's eye's immediately lit up.

"Aw, dudes! You gotta let me play a round," he said.

"Sure, man, no problem. We have an extra controller," Ro said.

"Yeah, Joe, hook it up for him," Kev said.

"What do I look like?" I asked them in protest.

"A homo," Kev quickly responded. "Now plug in the controller for Dan!"

Dan chuckled at the whole scene, while I muttered under my breath as I plugged in the other controller and handed it to Dan. He played one game with guys. Ro dropped out the second time, and I got in. I won, but I had a major advantage of having extended life unlike the other guys. Hey, I'm not the best video game player, okay?

An hour had passed, and I had to get ready. I had to shave and of course, put my Drakaar (I forget how to spell the name) on me. It drove Dan crazy. Dan stayed out and smoked a cigarette on the balcony with Kev.

I came out to where they were.

"...yeah, Joe can be an ass sometimes," Kev was saying.

"What?" I asked.

Dan was laughing and Kev was too. I felt left out for a moment.

"I was just telling Dan about the time you fell down the steps in the apartment."

I laughed along with them. It was kinda funny. It was a fun trip down the steps, I'll have to admit. Not that I would ever hope to do it again.

We all walked back into the apartment. Dan and I went into my room.

"Well, Dan, where do you want to go eat?" I asked, grabbing my Addidas hat and my wallet.

"Uh, I don't care. How about something local?" he asked.

"Sure! How about the Italian Bistro? It just opened up a few weeks ago. I hear it's great!" I suggested.

"Sounds good to me, man."

"Well, then let's go!" he said. I started walking out of the room. "Dude, wait," He said. I stopped and turn back around.

He slowly walked towards me with that look in his eye that I've seen so many times. I melted in his presence. He wrapped his arms around me, and slowly leaned in towards my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips to touch mine. They did, and opened, and we kissed, passionately. I let my hands wander over his body. I felt down to his ass again, cupping his nice tight cheeks in my hands. He began to moan, softly.

"Guys, come on!" we heard a voice say from the living room. "Get a room!"

We both stopped what we were doing, and looked at each other and just cracked up. I closed the door. And looked back into his eyes, and said, "Can I suck you?"

"What?" he asked.

"Can I suck you? I want to suck you, Dan."

"Aw man, it's too early! We have to go eat!"

"Don't give me lame excuses man, come over here," I said in a commanding voice.

Dan quietly moved over to where i was standing. I knelt down in front of him. "But, Joe, we gotta go...ahhh!" he exclaimed as I reached in from the top of the jeans and grabbed his hard cock.

"I know, but dinner can wait, man. Right now, I want that fuckin' hot cock in my mouth," I said.

Dan said nothing as I unzipped his zipper and slowly pulled down his pants and breifs in one motion. His cock was so beautiful, as beautiful as he was. Perfectly straight, just the right size, the kind you could suck on all day!

I took it all in my mouth, grabbing his balls gently as I did. That made him moan more, putting his hands on my head, guiding it up and down his dick.

"Yeah, man, fuck yeah! Come on, take all of it....yeah, that's it," Dan said, softly as I sucked on it. Dan did seem to notice that I was turned on by dirty talk during sex, and had seemed to be doing more and more of it as we explored more.

"Come on, man. You got a great mouth. I'm gonna shoot soon, if you keep that up, man!"

I got bold. I quickly licked my finger to get it slippery. As I went down on his cock, I reached the bottom and thrusted in my finger into his tight ass. Oh, it felt so good!

"Aw!!" he cried, and trembled. I kept sucking, moving my finger and out of his ass.

"Aw, that feels good, Joe. I'm gonna shoot babe! I'm gonna shoot," he said. I felt his body quake as his first load shot out of his cock. I took it all in my mouth, never missing a drop. It tasted unusually good this time. I licked my lips and grinned.

"Aw, yeah. Joe. That felt so good," Dan said, pulling me back up with his hands.

He kissed me, sweetly. He started making his moves on me. For some reason, though, I didn't want it.

I pushed his hands away from my jeans and looked at his face. "No, man. Not now."

"What?" he yelled. "You just did me!"

"Yeah," I answered. For some reason I couldn't figure out why I didn't want it, but I really didn't want it. "Dan, I don't want you to right now. I don't know why. Maybe it is because I'm still rehabilitating. Trust me, though, it has nothing to do with you, man." I kissed him softly on the lips.

"Well," Dan said, disappointingly, "Okay, but I owe you one, remember that!"

"Good," I answered.

We went out to dinner, talking about more things ranging from TV class to coming out stories. It was a really good time. The food was excellent, and the service was great as well. When it came time to pay the tip, I was ready to pay for the whole thing. Dan grabbed the bill, thinking faster than I, and wouldn't let me see it once.

"Aw, man, come on, at least let me pay my share," I complained.

"Nope, you can pay the tip, though, which is about eight bucks," he said.

Eight bucks? Damn, that's a lot!

"Okay, Dan, but next one's on me," I answered, laying down the eight dollars.

"Cool enough," he said.

"Ready to go to Philly?" I asked, getting back into the car after we left the resturant.

"Sure, man!" he said, smiling, buckling his seat belt.

I looked at the clock, which said exactly 10PM. Perfect timing, I thought.

"Ever been to Woody's before?" Dan said on the way there.

"Yes, several times."

"How is it there?"

"I don't know, I've never been there on a Saturday night. Only on Wednesday nights. My friends who I go with are under 21, and that's the only night they can go," I explained.

"Oh, I've never been there period. Actually, I've only been to one gay bar in my life. It was horrible. So small." he said.

"I feel sorry for you, man," I said, shaking my head in mock hoplessness.

"Shut the fuck up," he said, laughing.

"Boy, you have been hanging around Kevin too long! That's his favorite line," I laughed.

We made it to Philly in about 35 minutes. We parked in the garage, and walked down the street to Woody's. Although I had been there before, I never went with a boyfriend before. So, in that regard, it was a new experience for me, too.

I don't know what it is, but being in that type of environment, though a little too party-ish to me sometimes, makes me feel free and happy to be me. Dan was a little nervous and a little reserved when we first went in. There were two floors. The upstairs had the dance floor on it, with a bar off in the other room, along with two bars on the dance floor area.

"Hey, just out of curiosity," Dan asked, as we sat at the large bar downstairs. "Does Joe, the Man dance?"

I smiled, and answered, "Of course! Do you?"

"Well, it depends what mood I'm in and how intoxicated I am."

I laughed at that answer. "Well, then I guess we're gonna have to get you drunk."

I ordered two screwdrivers from the bartender. Dan gave me a surprised look. I handed him one of them. He smiled and winked, as if to say, okay, I'll try it. As we drank our drinks, I explained to him the layout of the club, and what they had on various nights. I took out my pack of cigs and lit one. Dan dug into his pockets only to come up empty.

"Shit! I left my butts in the car," he said. "Can I bum off of you tonight?" he said.

"Sure, man. I don't care, as long as you like Menthol Lights," I said handing him one.

"I can't believe I'm actually here," he said, looking around him. I looked around the room as well. There were more older guys than younger guys (as usual), but there was still some good scenery to look at, even though I knew I shouldn't be. Dan was looking around too, though.

"Come on, let's go upstairs," I said, getting up. Dan followed me. I stuck out my hand for him to take. I looked back at him when he didn't. He looked around him, and realized where he was, and took it with a smile on his face. I smiled.

Ever notice when you're with someone at a bar, you always get looked at, and when you go alone, you never do? Well, tonight was no exception. On our way through the bar room to the steps, I saw about three guys looking at me.  It was nice to know, but I had my man...right behind me.

We made it to the dance floor, which was big, but always didn't seem big enough. The crowd was not full yet, but the floor was pretty populated. We sat down on the carpeted steps that were on the side of the dance floor, and sat holding hands, and smoking yet another cigarette. I moved in front of him on the lower step, and sat between his legs, laying my head against his chest. Dan wrapped his arms around me. I felt so safe, so secure, so loved. The beat was getting annoying to me, so I knew I had to go out and dance or get out of there soon.

"Wanna dance?" Dan asked.

"I was just gonna ask you that," I said, standing up.

"I know," Dan said. "I'm getting good at judging your actions."

"Yeah, well..." I said, not knowing what to make of that observation.

We both went out to the dance floor, and found an open area to start dancing. Dan started to dance, not moving much. I'm sure he felt uncomfortable. After all, this was the first time I saw him dance. But I wasn't concerned about myself. I started dancing, just letting the music flow through me. That's how I dance. I've never claimed that I could dance very well, but then again, I've never been told that I couldn't. Dan watched my every movement on the dance floor. He started getting more confident. There was enough room to move around (which I love to do when I'm dancing) and we moved around each other, never letting our eyes off of each other. I was slightly jealous that Dan could swing his hips and shake his butt better than I could. But it was highly seductive. But apparently, I wasn't doing too bad either, since he seemed to be intrigued with my hip movement.

On an impulse, I danced around him, so now that he was in front of me, with his back to me. I put my arms, gently around him, and danced up against his butt. I only stayed there for a sec, only to crack up afterwards. Dan turned around with a surprised look on his face. He dance up toward me, and our lips met. We kissed, our tongues intertwining, on the dance floor, our hips gyrating together to the music, hands wondering all over each other's body. I felt a familiar hardening against my hard cock. Which just made me go more wild kissing him. We broke the kiss, and started dancing normally again, calming down.

Soon, Dan wanted to exit for a while, so I followed him and we went to the bar in the dance floor area. I decided that since I was driving, I'd order a coke. Dan ordered a bud. He put his arm around me, while we were standing. I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back. He leaned over to my ear, and said, "Damn, Joe, you look good tonight, babe!"

I smiled and blushed. "Let's walk," I said.
 

The Night
 

Following my lead, we walked around the dance floor, and into the bar next door to it. I felt someone grab me, and turned around. It was my ex, John. I smiled at him.

"Hey, Joe! How are you?" he asked, giving me a hug and a kiss.

"Great, man!" I yelled back. I turned to Dan, and introduced him to John. John and I had gone out four months ago, it last for two months. Dan looked a little jealous, but smiled and shook John's hand. I hated to admit, but John looked awfully good tonight, better than I've ever seen him before.

"Man, what did you do? You look good," I said.

"Oh, I've been working out and lost some weight," John said, proudly.

"Yeah, it shows, man!" I said, smiling.

John was with his usual group of friends at the bar, and so I introduced Dan to them. Dan seemed to be enjoying the looks all of them gave him. I was showing him off, and he made me proud!

We soon made our way back to dance floor, and a good dance tune came on. We made our way through the crowd and back onto the floor. We sang along with the tune, acting the lyrics out as we danced. It was great. I was having the time of my life. Through the next half hour, we danced, bumped, grinded, and did everything else that we could do without being kicked out. :) Which is a lot. Finally, it was so hot that I decided to rip off my shirt, which I've done before. Well, that got some stares, especially since Dan was all over my chest. Man, he was driving me wild.

I was soon out of breath after that, and needed to take a break. Actually, I was very tired. Dan noticed this more than I did.

"Joe, you look beat, man. I'm having fun here, but we can go if you want to. You're still recovering, you know," Dan said, taking a drag of his cigarette.

Ever since meeting John, Dan seemed a bit tense even though we did have fun out on the floor. He still looked like something was on his mind.

"So, what's on your mind?" I asked. I got up, and took him by the hand and we went downstairs where it was quieter to talk. We sat down at one of the booths they had.

"Well, I mean, I met one your ex's for the first time. That was a little weird for me."

I understood. "Did I ever tell you about him?"

"Yeah, you did. But you never explained why you broke up with him?"

I lit up a cig, and started the long story.

"Well, John and I went out for about two months. The first month was absolutely fantastic," I started. "He and I got along so well, did so many things together. I did notice that he drank an awful lot, but it didn't seem to affect us in anyway."

"However, one night, he had drank so much that he was indeed drunk. We were over at his friends party. It was sad, because, when he was drunk, he was a totally different person. He got nasty, verbally abusive to me. And I didn't like it. I hung in there for three more weeks, until one day we were out at the bar. He had too much to drink, and I had a little too much too. I said something about his weight. He took it the wrong way, and started yelling and cursing at me in public. It ultimately ended with him taking a slug at me. He missed me luckily. But I had had it with him, being drunk and abusive. That was just the icing on the cake, the punch. I turned around and left him that night. He called the next day, apologizing, like he usually did. But I was through with him. I was no longer in love with him. I kept hanging on trying to keep what could've been great."

Dan's expressions were of surprise and anger. "He tried to hit you?" he asked, flatly.

"Yeah, he did," I said, looking into his eyes.

"That fuckin' piece of flaming shit," he said.

I took a hold of his hand, and said, "Dan, please. It's no big deal to me. I'm over him. I've forgiven him. We hang out every now and then, still. He's my friend."

"Yeah, well, friend's usually don't strike each other," he said.

I looked down at the table, "Yeah I know. But he is a great person, if he wouldn't drink so much. He's been trying hard not to, and it seems to be working pretty well. Although I don't know what he'll do tonight, being that this is the first time he has seen me with another man," I said.

"Listen, Joe," he said. "I know it's not my place to make judgements. But, I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know," I answered, looking back up at him.

"So, you want to stay some more?" he said, changing the subject.

"We really should get going, even though I hate to break up such a wonderful evening."

"Don't worry. As long as I'm with you, I'm happy," he said getting up.

"Just keep saying that," I said. "Come on! One more time on the dance floor," I said, pulling him with me.

Dan didn't argue. We went back up and out to the floor.. John and his friends (about four others) were out there, so we danced up to them. We all yelled and smiled at each other. Dan and I got very intimate in front of them (Dan came up from behind me and started bumping into my ass. It turned me on, big time. However, John thought it would be fun to make a sandwich out of me and boxed me in from his side, putting me in the middle. I felt a little awkward, dancing with my boyfriend and my ex. I couldn't see Dan's face, however, I felt a little hesitation in his rhythm when John came up to me. I stayed like that for about eight beats and the broke away. John didn't like that too much.

He grabbed my arm, and said, "What the fuck is your problem, Joe? I was just having some fun!" He grabbed it real hard, and kept his grip on me.

Dan heard him yelling. I looked at John in the eyes. "John, don't start with me"

John's friends became aware of John's condition and started trying to get him to dance and have fun, telling him to forget about it. John was in no mood however. I saw the look in him that I saw that night we broke up. I wasn't scared, but I WAS pissed off.

"Fuck you, John." I said. I could feel Dan put his hands on my shoulders.

"Sorry, been there, done that," John said, in a deadpan expression.

I started to walk off the floor, but John grabbed my arm, hard. "John, let go of me," I said, loudly. I saw Dan in the corner of my eye. He was moving into the fight. I pushed him gently back with my free hand.

"John, get your fuckin' hand off me," I yelled. We were causing a scene on the dance floor but I didn't care.

John came closer to me and Dan stepped in this time.

"He said to get your hands off of him," Dan said, right in John's face.

"Oh, fuck off," John said. I knew he was drunk. John returned his glared towards me. I escaped his grip. Dan and I walked off the floor, with John right behind. Dan grabbed my hand and we went down the steps and out the door of the club. I never looked back.

John had made his way outside, too though. I was surprised he didn't trip down the steps. His friends were in back of him.

"Joe!" he yelled.

I turned around, and yelled, "John, get a life. Okay? You're drunk, man! You're fuckin' drunk. Get away from me. Go back and drink your life away. Okay? Just go the fuck away," I said, tears in my eyes. I was upset because of what John was when he was sober, and what he became when he was drunk. It was a tragedy.

Dan put his arm around me as we walked back to the car. I was happy to see that he wanted to display his love towards me on the streets of Philadelphia, but too into my own feelings to really care about that now. I was just glad he was holding me. I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder as we walked slowly to the car.

I gave him the keys to my Camry.

"You drive, man," I said, worn out. I got in the car when he unlocked the doors.

"Can you believe that?" I asked, as we pulled out on to the highway to take us home.

"No, man, I can't." Dan said, quietly, grabbing my hand to hold it.

"I can," I said. "Brought back horrible memories. But I'm over it."

Dan kept quiet, and I knew it was bothering him.

"I'm sorry, Dan," I said, softly. "I didn't mean the evening to turn out this way."

"It's okay, Joe. I was having fun," he said, briefly looking at me, smiling.

"Look at the road when you're driving my car," I joked.

He laughed. "Man, this car is nice! I think we should take yours out all the time!"

"Well, good, that means I'll be driving!"

"Nah, I won't let you," he kidded.

We were soon in a good mood, talking about what we did at the club and how much fun it was. We avoided John completely, which was fine by me. We soon pulled into the parking lot of the complex. Luckily, there was a space right in front of my door (a rarity). Dan pulled into it. It was now 1:30AM. I was tired, to say the least.

I got out of the car, slowly. I dragged my feet along, taking my keys back from Dan, and unlocked the apartment door. Before I took my next step, Dan lifted me up, and took me inside, carrying me up the steps. I smiled up at his face, wearily. He smiled back down, looking very happy. I opened the door with my hand, and Dan carried me in.

Roland was up, watching some show. He looked up at us, and just laughed. We all laughed too. Dan put me down.

"Hey, Ro, is it all right if Dan sleep with me in bed tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, but if you wake me up because you two are fucking, then I'll be upset," Ro said, seriously.

"Well, look at this way, since Dan is here tonight, you won't have to sleep with me tonight," I said, smiling.

Ro turned to Dan and said, "You can sleep here anytime you want to," Ro said.

Dan was taken by surprise at what I said before. "Go into the bedroom, Joe."

I did, fearing what he was going to say. I knew what it was about.

"So, you slept with Roland last night?" he asked, sitting down on my desk chair behind the keyboards.

I took off my shoes and socks, sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, he did. I had that nightmare man, and I didn't want to be alone. You weren't home, so I settled for the next better thing," I answered. I was too tired to be thinking coherently, and I knew this would probably cause some problems. Damn, Ro and his big mouth.

"I see," Dan said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Dan, I'm sorry. I would've told you, but I didn't think that it was necessary." I said, getting off the bed.

"Well, man, you have your roommate to cuddle with you tonight. I don't think you need me," he said, getting up.

Now I really felt bad. "Dan, wait a minute. We didn't do anything. What did you want me to do? Have nightmares and cry all night?"

Dan thought for a minute. "I would have liked you to tell me that you slept with Ro and not Ro telling me you slept with me," he said.

I couldn't feel mad at him, because I would feel the same way as he did.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't think it meant much," I said. I realized that I had said the wrong thing right after I said it.

"Didn't think it meant much, Joe? How about trust? Does that mean much to you?" he asked.

"Dan, I don't like where this is going," I said, beginning to get a little worked up.

"How far did you get with Roland?" he asked, bluntly.

"WHAT?"

"Oh, come on Joe! I know how you are."

"Shut up, Dan! Who the hell do you think you are?" I asked, getting angry. "If you would've been home, you probably could've come over last night."

"Oh, now it's my fault that I wasn't home," he said, quickly.

"Well, it is!" I knew I was going down the wrong path with this one, but it came out before I could stop it. "I would've been laying with you, instead of Roland. God, you're blowing this thing out of proportion," I said.

"Well, how would you like it if you heard it from my roommate that I had slept with him last night? How would you feel?" he asked, getting up from my chair.

I stopped and thought, looking directly into his eyes.

"Dan," I finally said. "We're both excited and tired. We've been through a lot this week. Please, I can't take you being mad at me, when I need you the most in my life right now." I swallowed my pride for once.

He looked back at me. I could tell he was still mad at me. Poor guy, I would be too. He had a point there. He started moving and said, "Joe, I love you, man. I love you so much it hurts. But, I gotta go now, before I say something worse. Please understand?"

"Dan, don't go, man."

"I'll call you in the morning, I promise. I just need some time alone," he said, walking out the door. I didn't get up to stop him. I let him go. I laid down on my bed, sighing, wondering where I went wrong. Ro came in after Dan walked down the steps.

"I thought he was going to sleep over," Ro said looking confused.

"Well, since you told him that you slept with me, he now thinks we fooled around," I said to Ro, not in a harsh tone of voice, just in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Oh, shit, man! Sorry," he said, running his hand through his hair, looking sorry.

"Ah, it's okay, I guess. I was shocked at how he responded. I'm surprised I'm not more upset. I just have this strange hunch, he'll be back. I'm a little bit upset that he would think that I would cheat on him though."

"Well, Joe, you know, you did cheat on what-was-his-name?"

"Oh, yeah, right," I said, grinning. "But I've told Dan that he means more to me than anything, and that I love him."

"Well, hopefully he'll come around, Joe. Again, I'm sorry I brought it up," he said, moving towards the door to go out again.

"Ah, don't worry about it. He'll call tomorrow. If I know my boyfriend well, he'll call tomorrow," I said, taking off my glasses and getting into bed.

The Early Morning

I awoke in the middle of the night, feeling something wet on my face. It couldn't be the dog, I thought, she died ten years ago. Honestly, that's the first thought that came to my head. I know, I'm crazy, right?

I opened my eyes, squinting, trying to see without my glasses. I noticed the light coming through the hallway. I looked at the figure before me, moving away from my face as I raised my head.

"Hey, babe," he said, grinning. DAN!

"Oh, hey," I said, wiping my eyes, sitting up in bed.

Ro was standing next to him. "Yo Joe. I guess you predicted right! Look who showed up."

"Joe, I'm sorry, man. I don't know what I was thinking tonight. I don't know why I left, man. I'm so sorry. I over reacted," he said, sitting down on my bed. I moved my legs out of the way.

"I just was so worried I would lose you for some reason. Is that understandable? I mean, I know that Ro is straight and all, but I also do know you have a wondering eye," he said softly.

I took his hand, "Dan, I accept. I admit some of it was my fault for not telling you, but I also realize that coming from Ro, it seemed like I was hiding it from you. I made no conscious effort to, but it appeared that way. I can understand where you're coming from," I said.

He raised his head to look at me. He had tears in his eyes. "And then, when I went home, I tried to go to bed. All I could think of was you. I couldn't help it, no matter what I did. And it wasn't about you sleeping with Ro, it was about you being with me, just going through life with me. Good things," he cracked.

I didn't move, but I knew he was being honest. I just kept holding his hand tighter and tighter.

"I left a few things out from my past when I was telling you about my ex. We broke up because I caught him not once, but twice cheating on me. The first time, I had heard from a friend, and confronted him about it. He admitted it. But the second time," he paused and took a deep breath. "The second time, I actually caught him in the act of it."

I wiped the tear off his face. "And that's why I think I'm overreacting to this whole scene. I'm sorry, Joe. I just don't want to lose you, man."

I leaned over and gave Dan a hug. "Apology accepted," I said, releasing him.

"All I am asking for is complete honesty, Joe," Dan continued.

"Yeah, that's what I'm asking for too, man. I will do that and expect the same," I said, running my hand through his hair.

"So do you want me to leave?" he asked, smiling.

"Strip and get into bed with me, you nut!" I said, laughing out loud.

He got up, ran downstairs to get his clothes from the car, and came back into the room.

"Your roommate wants to go to bed now," he said, looking a little disappointed.

"Who cares?" I said, with a smile. "We have the living room."

Dan smiled and nodded his head, "Ah, I see," he said. Roland came into the room.

"Yo can I get in here now?" he asked.

"Sure, we were just leaving," I said, getting out from under the bed and putting on my jeans.

We both went out to the living room, sitting on the couch with the light on. We went out to the balcony to grab a smoke. When we came back in, my bedroom door was closed and the light was out. It was so quiet. Dan turned out the light in the living room, and sat me down in the dark on the couch. He sat beside me. By this time, I had gotten my energy back for some reason and felt frisky and horny.

I practically jumped on top of thim, and started kissing him, little by little getting longer and longer. I could hear him breathing heavily, and I'm sure he could hear me too. We kissed, and sucked face for what seemed like hours, and little moans escaped each of our lips. I could feel him growing in his pants, as I'm sure he could feel me growing in my boxers. I gently licked and sucked on his neck, one of his most sensitive areas on his body, I had learned. I gently licked his ear lobe, making him moan, as I felt his chest with my hands. My hands went underneath his t-shirt, and felt around on his smooth chest. I felt his nipples, as his hands were running under my t-shirt on my bare back. It felt so good.

I soon had his shirt off, and was soon between his legs, licking his cock though his briefs. He was moaning quietly in pleasure as he squirmed around. I ripped of his sneakers, his socks, his pants, and his briefs. I tore off my shirt, and my pants, not caring what I did. I went back to kissing him, rubbing my hot chest against his, and rubbing my cock where his was also. We were both hot and heavy into it.

I took his member into my mouth whole, and he gasped. We couldn't make too much noise. So, there wasn't that much said between us this time. He put his hand on my head, encouraging me to suck on it even more. I went all out and went up and down on his seven incher, all while gently massaging his balls. He let out a small cry, and I knew he was close. I let up on it. He took control of the situation, and positioned me on my back, and he licked my body from head to toe, no lie. He then focused his attention to my hard dick, licking the head of it several times before he took it all in his mouth. He kept sucking on it, faster and harder as he went on. He gently pulled on my balls, which I love, while he was sucking. I made soft moans which I tried to keep quiet but I couldn't. I was thrashing around on the couch, like a mad man from the pleasure he was giving me. He did the same thing I did to him early this evening. He lick his finger, and then slowly stuck it up my ass.

"Oo, Joe," he whispered, pausing from sucking. "It's so tight."

His voice turned me on as well as what he was doing to my ass. I tried to loosen up as much as I could. It felt good, going in and out, slowly. I knew I was close.

"Dan, I'm gonna cum," I whispered. He made no sign of moving, so I grabbed his head, and shoved my cock in his mouth as he shoved his finger all the way in.

"Oh, Dan, oh, man, fuck!" I yelled, not caring about where I was. I heard steps coming up the steps of the apartment. But they stopped when they heard me moaning, apparently. There was laughing coming from there too.

I was completely blown away from that blow job my boyfriend lovingly gave me. Dan moved up on me again, and kissed me, sweetly. After a few seconds, I knew I had to face the music.

"Dan, we gotta get dressed," I said, getting up, putting on my boxers. Dan scrambled to get his clothes on. I opened the door.

"You can come in now," I said.

Kevin was there, and so was our friend, Paul. Paul had lived in the dorm with Roland and I the first year we lived there, and we became very good friends from the start. Paul knew, and was cool with it. To the point where he seemed to get a kick out of teasing me first verbally, then physically, and then finally visually (by flashing me). I had my questions about Paul, thinking he was a closet case. To put it bluntly, all my gay friends that I've introduced to Paul think he's gay. I think he could be too, but doesn't want to admit. He seems to have too much fun every time he gropes me or puts his hand up my leg.

Kev and Paul stumbled up the steps. I knew they were drunk.

"Yo, dudes. That's fuckin' sick, man" Kev said. "You were having sex weren't you? On the couch! That's fuckin' disgusting!"

"Yeah, well, you were the one who fucked you know-who on this couch," I shot back, giving him a look. I looked at Dan, who looked a little worried. I gave him a "don't worry" look back.

"Hey, Joe," Paul slurred, sitting down on the couch. "You missed an awesome party."

"Well, I'm not too upset that I did," I said, holding Dan's hand, standing next to him.

"So, is this your new bitch of the week?" Paul inquired.

I looked at Paul in the eye. "No this is not my bitch, this is my boyfriend, Dan. Dan this is my drunken friend, Paul," I said.

Paul stuck out his hand and shook Dan's. Dan looked like he was not impressed. I took Dan by the hand, and led him out to the balcony. I explained how I thought Paul was gay, and how they always came back like this on a Saturday night after the big party at Kev's frat house. I went sometimes, I'll have to admit. But they had gotten lame and pathetic. We went back inside, brushed our teeth, got undressed except in boxers in my case and briefs in Dan's case, and crawled into bed, underneath Ro's top bunk. We didn't say anything in fear of waking up Ro, but we kissed each other good night. He had me in a spoon position with him in back of me, with his arms around me. It felt so good, so much better than Ro. I felt so safe and secure in his arms, that I drifted right off to sleep in no time.

I woke up before Dan did the next morning. I looked over at him, he looked so peaceful and cute sleeping. I really didn't want to wake him. As it turns out, I didn't have to. He was up not two minutes after I had woken up. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered, "Good Morning, babe."

We climbed out of bed. It was apparent that we both were horny in the morning. We made our way to the bathroom.

"Hey, man, wanna take a shower with me?" Dan asked.

All I did was smile, and that was good enough for Dan. I closed the bathroom door. I stripped his briefs off, as he started the water.

"Nice bathtub," he commented.

I was sort of embarrassed. "Well, we cleaned it last semester!"

"That's okay, dude. We're only gonna stand in it!"

I grabbed his cock and said, "I don't think that's all we're gonna do, man."

He smiled and laughed.

"It's all ready, dude," he said, motioning me to go in first. The water temperature was set at just how I liked it. I was amazed. He followed me in with a huge grin on his face. He turned around to face the spray. I just watched him, looking at his naked body, which made me harder yet.

"Can I wash you, baby?" I asked him, hugging him from behind.

He nodded and stepped out of the water. I took the soap and started rubbing it on his back and shoulders, creating a smooth lather and rubbing down his arms and his stomach. He seemed to be enjoying this, being that he moaned and closed his eyes. I gently washed down to his crotch, taking special care at making his balls and cock really clean, rubbing up and down on it slowly a couple of times. I then took a risk and rubbed the soap over his ass and his hole, cleaning it. I knew what I wanted to do. And I would only do this after I had washed it myself. I made him stand in the water to rinse the soap off, and I gently put my head between his legs, and started rimming him. He jumped in surprise when I had my tongue there. I could only do it for a few seconds, to satisfy my curiosity. I got back up to him and said, "This is the only place I'll ever do that."

He seemed to understand my reasoning. He pushed me under the stream, getting my body all wet. Started soaping me up, taking his time, washing every area on my body. He worked on my cock a little longer than I did with him. I lost control.

"Oh, Dan, babe, I'm gonna shoot already, man!"

I shot on my chest, defying gravity. :) Dan watched in amazement. He then stood up straight and started jerking his soapy cock. He was close, and this was the very first time I saw Dan jerking off. He soon on came, on himself, not as high as mine, but just as much. I was impressed also.

We washed off our chests and stomachs once more, and kissed passionately, directly under the stream of water. It was absolutely wonderful.

We got out of the shower, I gave him a spare towel to dry off, as I did too. We went quietly back in my room, Dan grabbing his clothes and going back into the bathroom, and I grabbing mine and changing in the bedroom. By that time, my roommate was moving around. I had just put my jeans on, and I heard this voice say, "So, you had sex in the living room last night, and sex in the bathroom this morning."

I looked up at the top bunk. "Were we that loud?"

"Yeah, man, you were. Sex in the shower man, though, dude, that's sick."

"Yeah, I know, I promise it won't happen again," I said, knowing that it wasn't the most courteous thing to do to blow a load in a shower that all four of us use. "I'll even clean the bathtub today."

"Cool, man. Don't do it again, please, though," Ro said, with a straight look on his face.

"Okay," I said, opening the door. Dan was out of the bathroom, nicely showered, and smelled so good. I kissed him as I walked passed him to the bathroom.

"So, Joe, I have to leave soon. I got work to do," he said, standing in the doorway, watching me brush my teeth. I made a signal with my hand to wait a minute for me to finish.

"Yeah, that's cool. I've got some shit I need to do too," I said.

Paul suddenly appeared behind Dan.

"Hey, Paul," Dan said, turning around towards him.

"Hey, man. I'm sorry I don't remember your name," Paul said.

"He's Joe's bitch," I heard a voice yell from my room.

Paul laughed, Dan just stood there, and I sort of chuckled.

Dan yelled back to Ro, "The day I become Joe's bitch, is the day you can kill me."

I laughed. I walked out of the bathroom past Dan. Paul ran his hand up my arm, as I passed him, saying, "Hey sexy, you looking good."

Normally, I would've just laughed it off and giggled. However, Dan's face turned red when he saw this. I knew I had to say something to Paul.

"Dude, you know when I was single, that was okay. But, I'm with Dan now, and I'm sorry I can't be your toy anymore," I said, seriously to Paul.

Dan spoke up. "Yeah, so keep you paws off of him," he said, coming up behind me, putting his arms around me. God he smelled and felt good.

Paul gave a look of understanding, and moved into the bathroom.

"So you gotta leave?" I asked him.

He let go of me, grabbing his bag. "Yeah, I'm afraid so, man."

"Well, call me tonight?"

"Sure! You count on that. 10PM?"

"On the dot," I replied, walking with him down the steps. Before he opened the door, he turned around and kissed me. I backed him up against the door and we kissed for about a minute longer. Though I didn't want to, I broke the kiss, and he headed out the door. He turned and waved to me a few feet down.

He smiled and said, "Remember one thing. You are Joe, The Man. There's no one else like you in the world!"

I smiled at him and nodded, happy once again.

Well, that wraps of Dan, The Man, Part 4. I hope you enjoyed it. Look for the next section to be posted soon! Any comments can be sent to SNJBoy76@aol.com Thanks!