Date: Wed, 6 May 2020 14:57:52 +0100
From: AP Webb <pjalexander1753@gmail.com>
Subject: D'n'M Part 2 Chapter 20

This is the second part of the story of Dan Reed and Milo de Beer -- D'n'M.
As before, it includes scenes of sex between teenage boys.  However, sex is
not the main driver of this story and often there is none at all.

All the characters and events in the story are fictitious.  Any resemblance
to real people, either living or dead, is entirely unintentional.

The story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any way without the
express permission of the author who can be contacted at
pjalexander1753@gmail.com

D'n'M Part 2

From Chapter 19:

"I can only imagine what you've been through, D, but I know it must have
been the worst thing ever."  Milo kept his voice calm and low.  He didn't
want what he had to say to cause any more upset.  "And I know the thought
of having to tell anyone else about what happened must be scaring the crap
out of you right now.  But you won't be alone.  You'll have me and Tom,
won't he Tom?"

"One hundred percent."

"And you'll have your mum and dad, and I for one wouldn't back anyone in a
fight against your mum -- not Roberts, not school, not anyone."

Dan raised his head slightly and spoke haltingly through his sobs, "But
it'd still just be his word against mine.  Not even mum can do anything
about that."

"No, but I can," said Milo.  "The other guys I spoke to - who it had also
happened to -- they didn't say they wouldn't speak out, just that I
couldn't give their names without their permission."

"Do you honestly think they'd be prepared to back D up?" asked Tom.  "If
they did then it wouldn't be one against one.  And who knows how many
others might be prepared to come forward."  He sounded as if he was trying
to convince himself almost as much as he was his brother.

"Well, I can only try," said Milo as he took his phone from his pocket and
began to tap in a number.

**********

Chapter 20:

"Hi.  It's Milo.  Can you talk?"  There was a pause as he listened.  "Cool.
Listen, I just need to explain to D what's going on.  I'll be right back."
Milo put his hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Dan.  "This is one of
the guys I spoke to before, about ..., well, you know."

Dan nodded weakly.

"I'm gonna speak to him outside in the hallway but I'll be back soon.
Okay?"

Dan nodded again and Milo left the room, leaving the two brothers alone
with their own thoughts, hopes and, in Dan's case, fears.  He returned
after a few minutes and handed the phone to Dan.  "It's Warren.  He wants
to speak to you."

"Warren?  You're kidding me.  It happened to him too?"

Now it was Milo's turn to nod.  "Talk to him.  He'll tell you."

From then on events moved surprisingly quickly.  Warren, hesitatingly but
definitely, did confirm that he had also been a victim of Mr. Roberts'
abuse for the past several months and had, in fact, been surprised when the
teacher had put a stop to it just a few days before.  It didn't take a
genius to work out the lack of coincidence between Warren's last time and
Dan's first.  Mr. Roberts was obviously a `one-victim-at-a-time' abuser.
By the end of the call both boys were in tears.  For both of them the
confirmation that they weren't the only ones and weren't, therefore,
abnormal or perverted, was an indescribable relief.

Speaking to Warren was the first of many difficult conversations over the
coming days and weeks.  Perhaps the hardest was with Helen and Roger Reed,
the hardest but also the most positive and restorative.  Predictably they
travelled a seismic range of emotions, from shock and disbelief to outrage
and disgust.  After that first, traumatic revelation the family (naturally
including Milo) talked about what had happened numberless times over the
following weeks, but every one of those conversations ended with Dan being
reassured that he was loved and supported and totally blameless.  He took a
lot of convincing.

The Reeds met up with Warren's parents and all six of them made an
appointment with the school principal for the Tuesday of the following
week.  Both boys were to be kept at home until then at least.  At the
parents' request the meeting was held at the district education department
offices, "Well away from prying eyes and smart phone cameras," as Helen
Reed put it.  Not surprisingly Ms. Ohura was completely taken aback by the
grave allegations being made against one of her longest-serving and most
respected colleagues and was reluctant to take them seriously.  In fact,
she made it clear that it was only because there were two accusers and not
just one that she was prepared to entertain the allegations at all.
However, as soon as the boys' parents made it clear that they would not be
letting the matter drop or be glossed over and that their next appointment,
later that same day, was at the police station where both boys would be
making formal statements outlining the abuse they had suffered on school
premises by a member of her staff, she had no choice but to agree to the
immediate suspension of Mr. Roberts (on full pay, as demanded by agreed
protocols).  Within hours of the meeting with the police inspector
Mr. Roberts had not only been instructed to leave the school premises and
not to return, pending a thorough investigation of the allegations by the
school governors, but he had been arrested, charged and held in custody
awaiting an appearance before the next day's magistrates' panel.

Events further escalated from there.  The appearance in court of a
long-standing and highly-regarded teacher at the most popular high school
in the area would have been big news under any circumstances.  The fact
that he had been remanded on charges of the sexual abuse of young boys
propelled the news into the stratosphere.  Social media went ballistic and
it wasn't long before more and more boys, both present and past members of
the soccer squad, were coming forward to add their names to the list of the
abused.  The story was quickly picked up, first by national, and then by
international, news organisations.

No-one ever discovered how the fact of Dan's involvement in the scandal
came to be known about, but, just days after the teacher's first court
appearance, the stream of congratulatory texts and emails soon became a
flood.  Dan was overwhelmed.  He was still emotionally very fragile,
subject to sudden bouts of tears and angry outbursts.  He slept poorly.  He
continued to be kept away from school at the insistence of his parents but
also on the advice of the family doctor who strongly recommended an urgent
referral to a specialist child and adolescent mental health practitioner.

At the first session with Shania Margelles, one attended by both Dan and
his parents, she suggested they should take on a `restorative project' as
she called it, something to keep the boy's mind off the up-coming court
case but also to mark a `turning point' in his life and a moment of `moving
on' (she was very big on `life labels').  When Dan told him about this
suggestion later, Milo immediately came up with the idea of his bedroom.
Although the wreckage had been cleared away, there were still many
reminders in the room of Dan's life before the abuse.  What better way to
show that he was moving on with his life than by refreshing his own
personal space?  Both the Reed parents and Shania Margelles gave the idea
their enthusiastic support and a trip to a homewares store in a
neighbouring town ("Less likelihood of being recognised there" was Roger
Reed's assertion) was quickly organised.

It was decided a complete make-over was in order, including a fresh coat of
paint for the walls, a new rug and more appropriate bed linen to replace
the soccer motif which decorated the existing bed covers.  Tom, home for
the weekend, suggested Sponge Bob Square Pants which earned him a painful
noogie from his father and, behind their parents' backs, the finger from
Dan.  Maybe the recovery was underway.

Every day of Dan's absence, and much to Mrs. de Beer's loudly-voiced
objections, Milo left school as quickly as possible at the end of classes
and made his way to the Reed house.  More often than not he spent the
evening helping with the on-going redecoration of the bedroom, shared in
the family dinner and then slept over in order to provide reassurance
through Dan's long and frequently disturbed nights.

After nearly two weeks of enforced home leave it was decided, with Milo's
agreement as the family's in-school intelligence gatherer, that it was time
for Dan to go back.  Ms. Ohura raised objections, initially on the grounds
of the likely disruption to the school's smooth operation as a result of
the continued media interest in the case.  When Helen and Roger Reed
brushed this excuse aside, asserting Dan's statutory entitlement to
continue his education, the principal expressed her `deep concern' for
Dan's mental health and well-being should he return to the scene of the
abuse.  A timely phone call from the family's legal representative ended
all attempts at bureaucratic prevarication and a date was agreed for Dan to
re-join his classmates.

On the morning of Dan's return to school Milo was awake and out of the new
and shared bed early.  He was determined that the day would be a success,
with D able to begin picking up as many of the threads of his old life as
he wanted, even though they had both suffered a restless and
serially-interrupted night.  In the concealing darkness of the early hours
Dan had admitted his fears about returning to school and facing the other
students.  What would they be thinking?  How would they react?  What would
they do?  And then there were the staff, some of them close friends and
colleagues of the man that he, Dan, had accused of committing the most
appalling acts.  Exactly the same What? and How? questions applied to them.
Milo had no answers, just a tighter hug and a reassuring back rub.
Eventually they had both dozed off.

The pattern they had established over the previous couple of weeks was for
Milo to get up, shower and dress before going down to collect the breakfast
one or other of the Reed parents had prepared.  The boys would eat the food
together up in Dan's room before Milo left for school leaving D to get up,
shower and dress in his own time.  Some days he had never got beyond the
getting up stage and on others, not even that.

In preparation for the big day they had jointly chosen D's clothing for his
return and laid it out ready.  Apart from a change of underwear selected
from D's stock of boxer briefs, Milo would be wearing the same as the day
before.  On his way across the room to take a shower he heard D's voice
behind him.

"I think I want to take a bath today.  Is that okay?"

"Fine with me.  I'll get it started for you once I've showered and then you
can have some privacy."

"Actually," replied Dan, his voice hesitant and almost pleading, "I think
I'd like you to stay with me."

Now this was a real surprise.  Since the day of the abuse the only time Dan
had been naked with another person was the day, weeks ago, when Tom had
helped him shower.  Apart from that, even though he hadn't explained it in
so many words, he had been determined never to be undressed in front of
anyone else.  It was bound to provoke too many unfaceable memories.  Milo
had instinctively picked up on this and had been scrupulous in respecting
D's wishes, so Dan's request took Milo completely unawares.

"Sure, D.  Whatever you want.  I'll go and get it started then run down to
pick up breakfast.  You get up when you're ready."  With that Milo went
into the adjoining bathroom to start the bath water running, then down to
the kitchen before returning with scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, juice and a
bowl of mixed fruit.  D was no longer in bed so Milo put down the tray of
food on the desk and went back into the bathroom.  Dan was standing beside
the bath, still dressed in his preferred sleep gear of boxers and outsize
T-shirt, looking as if he'd no idea what to do next.

"You okay, D?  Should I stay out in the bedroom after all?"  This was
clearly a situation that neither boy was confident in handling.

"I don't know.  I mean, I don't know how to do this.  At some time I've
gotta get used to being undressed with other guys, how else how am I ever
gonna be able to do any sports or go to the beach?"  He sounded so lost and
miserable.

"Perhaps it's just too soon and you need more time before you ..."  Milo
wasn't able to finish before Dan interrupted.

"No.  I've gotta do this.  Please help me, M.  Please."

Suddenly inspiration struck.  "I know, how about I turn round till you're
in the water.  If we put in some bubbles then I'll only be able to see your
shoulders and your ugly face!"

"Who are you calling ugly?  You looked in a mirror lately?"  The banter was
almost like old times and both boys couldn't help but grin as Milo turned
to face away from his friend.  As it happened he found himself looking
directly into the full-length mirror that was fixed to the wall opposite
the bath.  As a result, Milo had an uninterrupted view of D removing his
night clothes.  Out of respect for D's privacy he quickly looked away but
curiosity dragged his gaze back to the reflection.  Crap!  D had got so
thin.  All the muscle he had begun to build up over the weeks of working
out had totally vanished.  In its place was a skinny, pale-skinned version
of a teenage boy, pasty and ill-looking.  Milo couldn't help feeling guilty
as he watched D lower himself into the foaming bath water, before turning
back round.

"How does that feel?"

"Yeah.  Good," replied Dan as he shuffled forward in the bath.  "M, will
you do something else for me?"

"What is my master's wish?" quipped Milo.

"Would you get in with me?"

"Er, yeah, of course.  If that's what you want."  Milo couldn't have been
more surprised.  He quickly slipped out of his clothes and eased himself
into the bath, coming to rest in the space Dan had left for him.  The
temperature of the water was just right and the bubbles added an unexpected
sense of specialness.  Milo eased himself into position with his legs on
either side of Dan who immediately leaned back against his chest.  Milo's
arms closed around him.

"Thanks, M."

"It was nothing.  Even I can manage to run some water into a bath."

"I didn't mean that, or at least, not only that.  Thanks for everything
you've done for me these last few weeks.  I couldn't have got through it
without you, you know.  My folks have been great, of course, but they've
been so hurt and angry and stuff.  And they've been so caught up with all
the court case and arguing with Ms. Ohura, it's like they sort of forgot
about me."  This was the longest speech Dan had managed in days.

"They just want what's best for you," Milo assured him.  "They love you."

"Yeah, I know.  But sometimes it feels like they're watching and waiting
for me to fall apart.  It's like being under a spotlight all the time.  I
feel like I've got to pretend to be okay just to make them feel better.
It's really hard work.  But it's not like that with you.  With you I can
just be me, even if me isn't really much at all.  Thanks.  I owe you big
time."

Milo was fighting not to cry.

Dan hadn't finished.  "You know I'm really scared, right?"

"Don't be.  I'll stick to you like a rash until things at school settle
down."

"It's not just school, though just the thought of it is bad enough.  It's
the court case, having to see him and stand in front of all those people
and tell them what happened.  I don't know whether I can do it without
you."  His voice trailed away as projections of the likely scene in court
flashed across his mind.

Milo lost the fight against the tears.  The last few weeks had been agony
for him, so many times thinking that the old D was lost and gone forever.
But now it looked as if he might be on his way back, and if Milo had had
any part in that return, well, it's what friends did, wasn't it?  And he
and D were more than friends, they were like two trees that had been
planted close together and had grown up and twisted round each other so it
was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.  Milo bent down
and kissed Dan on the top of his head.

"I'll be there, D.  You and me together,every step of the way."

**********

As ever I am grateful to those readers who take the trouble to contact me
about this story.  As an author, it's REALLY encouraging to know that there
are people out there who are taking the time to read what's been written,
and then bothering to send a response.  I welcome all comments and
guarantee to write back.

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