Storyville

Chapter 10
Epilogue
by Julien Gregg
©2003-2004 Julien Gregg

This story is about homosexual teenagers.  If you are offended by this kind of story, then you shouldn't read mine.  If it is not legal for you to read erotic fiction where you live, then you should not read this story.  If you have questions or comments, email me.  You can also visit my webpage.  There isn't much there yet, but soon there will be exclusive content.  This story is copyrighted, so please do not duplicate it in whole or in part without permission.

Vince noticed that Steve and I were sticking to each other even more than we ever had the next morning.  The way we smiled at each other every time we looked at each other probably gave us away completely, but we didn't care.  Let Vince think whatever he wanted.  We were the ones who had to deal with sore rear ends for most of the day.

We were both very happy to hear that Andy was having lunch with Gage, though.  Vince had plenty to say on that topic.  He told us that Andy had talked about Gage for the rest of the night until they both went to their rooms to go to bed.  He said that Gage called while the two of us were sleeping (I didn't like the emphasis he placed on the word sleep) and invited Andy to lunch.

"He reminded me of you two before he left," chuckled Vince.

"I resent that remark," laughed Steve.  "You should see yourself before you leave for a date with Maria!"

"I'm not as bad as the three of you," he challenged.

"Oh, right," I said, getting into the playful argument.  "You just change your clothes seven times on average, shower twice, because you put on too much cologne the first time, and don't get me started on you and your hair!"

"What's wrong with my hair?" he asked, trying hard not to blush and failing.

"Nothing that we can ever see," said Steve.  "You're the one that hates your hair when you get ready for a date. We're the ones who tell you that it looks fine."

"Yeah, well you aren't the one who's going to be trying to run your fingers through it," he said, and I could tell by the severity of his blush that he'd slipped on that one.

"Yuck!" cried Steve, laughing.

"Oh stop," countered Vince.  "You should hear you two! Like today! You're both smiling at each other and glowing all over the place."

"Hey!" cried Steve.  "Tommy and I are a couple, and we'll glow any time we want. Thank you!"

We continued to take playful shots at each other until Andy came home with the biggest grin on his face I'd ever seen.  We pumped him for information, but he told us to mind our own business before bounding down the basement stairs to his room.  That left the three of us silently staring at each other for a while.

It was clear that Vince was getting more comfortable with me and Steve as a couple, and I was very happy about that.  We'd had a lot of private talks after I'd finally come to my senses after my mother died, and Vince showed me a side of himself that I'd never dreamed existed.  He asked questions about problems that Steve and I had, and he never judged us for what we were doing.  His previous thoughts about us being together seemed to have changed.

I was still making amends to Shirley and Tom for basically ignoring their authority for all of that time, too.  I had much more making up to do with them, but they showed me countless times that they understood where I was coming from, and they held no bad feelings for me over anything that I had done.  Even Ben had told me that, though he would never understand what it felt like to lose a parent, he understood that I wasn't really being hateful out of any sort of real feelings for him or his parents.

When he and Wendy came back, the four of us went out to eat and had a great time catching up on what had been happening while they were gone.  Wendy was excited to hear about Andy and Gage going out all of the time.  She said that she'd been hoping that they'd get together the day she'd invited Gage to Steve's party.

Peter came back the day after Wendy and Ben, and he and I hung out all by ourselves for an entire day, doing anything that popped into our minds.  He and I were growing pretty close, and I was very happy about that.  We shared a common pain that I was still experiencing and he had buried growing up.  We helped each other as much as we could, and we were always available to each other when one of us needed to talk about our mothers.

Doug and I got to know each other pretty well, too.  He and I started summer school together the third week of July.  We also both started working The Plaza shortly after school started.  His job at Red Lobster didn't go well, but we both seemed to get along with everyone at The Plaza, and we were soon getting more and more hours.

Steve got his job at Santucci's, and he was very happy with it.  We were both making money, and that made both of us happy.  We had very little time to spend together through the week, so we spent as much time alone together as we could on weekends.  We didn't neglect or ignore our friends, but they understood that we needed time alone sometimes.

Nick and I reached a sort of stalemate shortly after he returned from Maine.  He started coming over to the house while I was at work and Steve was at home, and I knew that he and Steve spent a lot of time together during the day while I was at school.  By the time that summer school let out in August, I started talking to Nick again.  I still hadn't forgiven him, but I didn't hate him, either.

We started the regular school year in September, and I continued to miss my mother.  It was getting easier with each passing day, though.  I went to the cemetery faithfully every week, and Steve went with me from time to time.  What shocked me most was finding Vince there a few times.  It seemed that he had been going to visit Mom's grave almost as much as I had been.

Dustin and Keith started sitting with us at lunch, but most of the football team had graduated.  The players who were seniors that year continued to walk around the school with us wherever we went, but there wasn't such a need for protection anymore.  They were friends, and I was glad to have them.

Steve and I would still have problems as time went on, but every relationship has its ups and downs.  He still hadn't heard from his parents at all, and I knew that bothered him a lot.  We talked about it from time to time, but usually he talked with Vince about their parents.  I didn't mind that at all.  It was important for them to talk about it together.  As for living our lives from day to day and facing the problems and hurtles that life could throw at us, we were going to be just fine.  We had each other, and that was all that was important.

The End

Author's Note: I want to sincerely thank those of you who took the time to send in feedback via E-mail. Given that this was my very first attempt at writing a serial story based on the events of my life, it's been quite a roller-coaster ride.  This is the shortest chapter of the story, but there wasn't much more to say about their high school years.  I hope everyone enjoyed the story!

Many people have asked me how much of this story is true. Let's just say that more than half of it was based on things that really happened to me.  Sure, some things were juiced up a bit, but they were based on true events in my own life and my lover's life.

I'll be working on a sequel to this story after a little while.  I want to get Dustin going pretty good before I start on it, though.  The title of the story will be That's Life.  I'll let everyone on the email list know more about it when I get it ready to post.

I want to dedicate this story to my lover, Jordan.  Without you, I would surely be insane by now.  You have my admiration, love and respect, Jordan.