Date: Fri, 26 May 2023 19:03:48 +0000 From: Matt Smith Subject: The Kingswood Effect - Chapter 18 Author's Note – This is book three of the Kingswood Saga. Check out Tales from Kingswood and The Kingswood Eight to find out what has happened previously. Thank you all for the ongoing support and feedback. If you have any questions or comments, my email is always open at matterotica@hotmail.co.uk. Alternatively, I can be found on patreon where I also post my stories, along with bonus content and exclusives, at patreon.com/matterotica Finally, Nifty is a wonderful site that has been home to my writing for over a decade. Please consider a donation to help support it - http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Kingswood Effect -------------------- Chapter 18 ---------- Tuesday 30 November 2021 The boys of team two were not the first to awake at the campsite. That honour belonged to whoever was outside attempting to be quiet but ending up even louder in the process. As Danny yawned heavily, he felt Ben at one side of him. He had turned over during the night, but his back was still pressed against Danny's side. Whether it was for the heat, the closeness or simply unconscious chance he didn't know, but he remained sound asleep. To Danny's other side was Harley. He had either not moved, or simply moved and shifted back as he was exactly where he had been the night before, his head resting on Danny's chest with an arm draped over his stomach. As Danny looked down at him, he saw his eyes were wide open. "Morning," he whispered. "Hi!" Harley beamed happily. "You okay?" Danny asked nervously, pausing a moment before he clarified, "I mean... after the stuff last night?" "Better than okay! That was..." Harley seemed to hold himself back, nervous of sounding too enthusiastic. "It was fun!" "Good," Danny grinned, squeezing the arm he had wrapped around him. "D'ya think... we've got time for... more stuff before we have to get up?" Harley asked hopefully. "Sounds fun, but I'd hate to disturb Ben!" Danny said, knowing how much most of the boys in his own dorm seemed to hate an impromptu awakening. "Ben's okay with it!" Ben said suddenly, tilting his head back to he could snigger at the other two. "Joining in or going back to sleep?" Danny asked with a wry grin. Ben rolled over and pressed his crotch against Danny's leg, the erection undeniable. He sniggered briefly then blushed, realising how overt he had been. The smile quickly returned when he saw Danny grinning at him. "So, am I returning the favour for last night?" Danny asked, sliding a hand down each of the other boys. "You wanna wank me off?" Harley asked excitedly. "Fuck yeah!" "Oh-em-gee, could he be any cuter?" Danny asked, shaking his head slightly at Ben. "Well he could get naked, but yeah, then I'd say he'd be pretty maxed out!" Ben replied, unzipping the side of their conjoined sleeping bag to allow them to all more easily spread out. "Hey, after you!" Harley said, clearly excited at the prospect of a naked Ben too. Ben hesitated a little as he pulled the sleeping bag down, his hands hovering near his sweatpants. It was only when he felt Danny's hand slide across his stomach that he urged himself on and pushed them down to his knees, along with his underwear. A thick, fifteen-centimetre cock sprung free, audibly slapping onto his stomach. Harley immediately let out a whimper as he saw it and said nervously, "I'm... not big! I'm sorry!" "Aww," Danny pouted, reaching out with his other hand to stroke a few strands of hair out of the smaller boys' face. "I was wrong. You DID get cuter." Harley grinned at the compliment, but it got even broader as Danny added, "And size is nice, but... it's really not everything, believe me!" "Okay," Harley nodded, copying Ben to expose himself, apparently taking Danny's reassurance at face value. His cock sprung free but was hard (and small) enough to just stand out freely from his body, pointing up to his face at a slender ten centimetres, not a pube in sight. "Is it... okay?" he asked nervously. "Perfect!" Ben said supportively. "Beautiful. Like the Mona Lisa," Danny added. "If the Mona Lisa was a penis... and about to get wanked off!" "You're weird!" Harley giggled. "But wank away!" "Gladly!" Danny declared as he reached down to either side to grab both dicks at once. They felt so different, Harley's harking back to the barely-developed slenderness of Danny's past, while Ben's (hopefully) represented the girth of Danny's own future. "May I?" Ben asked, sliding his hand down Danny's stomach. "Be my guest," Danny said with a nod, letting out a happy sigh as he felt fingers wrap around his own erection. "You imagine if someone came in now?" he asked playfully, nodding to the zipped-up tent flaps. "Normal day for you!" Harley giggled. "Yeah, like the time he got caught wanking on class and had to finish off in front of everyone!" Ben sniggered. "Were you even there for that?" Harley asked, sitting up a little to look over for him. "Nah, just heard about it!" Ben shrugged. "Sounded hot though. Definitely woulda knocked one out over that!" "I was still locked then, but I totally would've too if I could. Same for Halloween in year eight!" Harley explained. "Oh, fuck, yeah, that was fire!" Ben exclaimed, his cock throbbing in Danny's hand. "I'm right here ya know!" Danny exclaimed, more amused than annoyed by the conversation. There had been comments the night before about his exploits, or at least their perception of his exploits, but this felt a little different. "Wait, do you guys... jerk off over me?" he asked in surprise. Ben and Harley immediately went quiet, embarrassed after getting caught up in the excitement of their discussion. "Guys, I'm literally jerking you off. I think you can handle talking about it!" Danny giggled. "Well..." Ben started nervously, "It's not like it's all the time, but... yeah, there's a few Danny moments in the ol' wank bank!" Harley nodded his agreement. "That's..." Danny started, unsure how to react. "Oh, fuck!" he grunted, the thought obviously exciting him as his cock erupted from Ben's gentle stroking. "Fuck!" Ben grunted as he felt the penis throbbing in his grip, the spunk mostly shooting up over Danny's torso, though a little dribbled down onto his fingers. Watching Danny as he panted his way through the orgasm, Ben rolled to the side and began to shoot too, adding his load to Danny's own. "Just you to go now, bud," Danny said to Harley as Ben finished spurting. "I might... need to do it myself," Harley said, looking almost on the verge of tears at the admission. "Hey, it's okay. That's... not unusual," Danny whispered, then playfully nuzzled his face into Harley's neck. "Do whatever you need!" he added softly. Harley smiled at the reassurance and reached down, replacing Danny's hand with his own. He stroked rapidly, closing his eyes for a few moments before they shot open and he let out an adorable whimper, his cock dribbling up a tiny, watery load. "I don't... cum much... either..." Harley panted. "Did you enjoy it?" Danny asked. As he got a nod and smile back from the smaller boy, he said, "Good, that's all that matters then!" The three lay in blissful post-orgasmic peace for a few moments before quickly cleaning up. "Now whadda say we go find out who's being noisy out there?" Ben asked as he pulled his clothes back on, "Before they come in here and find out why WE were so noisy in here!" It got a laugh from the other two as Danny reached for his clothes ***** Nicky woke to the sound of his alarm and was surprised to find himself alone. The previous night, he had joked with Rob and Mark about whose bed Chris would end up in, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep alone. Despite Nicky's preference for sleeping alone, the odds had been on Nicky, so it was a surprise to find Chris wasn't with him. A quick glance over to Rob's bunk showed he wasn't there either and a final check on Mark's proved, amazingly, that Chris was also absent from the final member of the dorm. Nicky leaned down and across to peer over onto the bunk Chris usually shared with Danny, but yet again there was no sign of Chris. Feeling a mild panic at the boy's apparent disappearance, he started, "You guys know..." "Down there!" Rob quickly interjected, pointing to the very back of the dorm, on the floor in the corner beyond the sofas and the desks. Nicky sat up and looked to see Chris still sat where he had been the night before, furiously tapping away on his laptop. "Has he been there..." "All night?" Rob interjected again. He gave a nod and said, "Yeah, pretty much!" Nicky rolled over the side rail of his bunk and dropped to the floor with a perfect landing, getting some quiet, polite applause from the other two. Bowing with a grin, he headed over to Chris and squatted down beside him. "Chris, are you okay?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern. Chris glanced at him for a moment, looking exhausted, but a huge grin spread across his face. "Nicky. Hiiiii!" he said happily. "What are you still doing up?" "Erm... Chris, it's morning!" Nicky chuckled, pleasantly surprised to see Chris was actually looking cheerful. He pulled a curtain aside and said, "That big bright shiny thing... that's the sun!" Chris looked round, looking genuinely surprised before he glanced at the clock just to be sure. "Wow, fuck me!" he exclaimed. "What are you even doing?" Nicky asked, tapping the top of the laptop screen. "Creating!" Chris grinned as he closed the laptop, "And it's nearly finished! Well, the first draft anyway!" "Oh good, I was a little worried you might have lost your grip on reality or something!" Nicky sniggered with a bemused headshake. Chris shrugged. "Can't lose what you never had!" he said with a chuckle. "Ha, true. Anyway, time to get going," Nicky informed him. "Shower, breakfast, then classes!" "Okay, lemme just..." Chris started as he began to move then let out a yelp. "Oh god, everything hurts!" he whined, his entire body remaining hunched over, his hands frozen into claws. "Yeah, it's almost like twelve hours sitting on the floor without moving is bad for you or something. Who knew!" Nicky said sarcastically. "Guys, little help here!" he called out to the others who had dismounted their own bunks. "Whadda you need?" Mark asked as he and Rob stood over them. "Pick him up, stretch him out and ignore the bitching!" Nicky instructed as he stood up and backed away. Rob and Mark looked at each other, shrugged then each grabbed a side of Chris. They lifted him up as he yelped out at them and started swearing, which only intensified as they forced him to stand up straight. "Ugh, I fucking hate you all!" Chris complained, whimpering with pain, but secretly glad of the `assistance'. "Yeah, well, hate us while you shower," Nicky said, leading the others away. ***** "Jenson, Tommy, over here," Mr Rudd instructed as he watched the chaos of the boys getting ready for the day. "Yes sir," Jenson said as he and Tommy approached, eyeing the boy at the teacher's side suspiciously. "Josh," Mr Rudd started, placing a hand on Josh's back to nudge him forward, "Wanted to say something to you both." Josh pouted a little, his eyes fixed on the ground as his hands fiddled together awkwardly. "S... sorry," he said quietly. When neither of the other boys or Mr Rudd spoke, he knew they were all waiting for more. "Sorry I was such a dickhead yesterday. I... I shouldn't... have acted the way I did," he added. More silence. He finally looked up and glanced at Tommy for a moment, then to Jenson, who had undoubtedly been on the receiving end of the majority of Josh's teasing behaviour. "I... actually like your name and I shouldn't have... teased you the way I did!" Tommy just shrugged as Jenson looked at Josh, his expression softening just a little. "S'okay," he shrugged. "Just... cut it out and start acting like part of our team!" "You... still want me on your team?" Josh asked, more than a little surprised. "I don't know if `want' is the best word for it," Jenson said honestly, getting a snigger from Tommy, "But... yeah, I guess we do!" Josh smiled meekly, then glanced back at Mr Rudd curiously, silently enquiring whether the apology was sufficient to get him off the hook. "Go on then," Mr Rudd said, gesturing for them to leave. "And don't be a dick!" he called after them, getting a giggle from the whole group that happened any time a teacher used rude language. A few minutes later, with Josh's team mingled back in amongst the others, Danny approached Josh, giving his best disapproving look. "You're gonna say stuff to me now, aren't you!" Josh pouted. "You know I'll have to tell Rob about this," Danny joked. "Shut up, ya snitch!" Josh chuckled. "Mr Rudd give you a good kicking last night then?" Danny asked, sounding a little sympathetic. Josh nearly told the truth, but decided it was simply more fun to play along with what Danny (and seemingly the whole camp) had imagined. "Fucking brutal!" he pouted. "Hmm, can't say it's not deserved. Sounds like you were a right prick!" Danny said bluntly. Josh nodded, shrugged slightly and admitted, "I just made a mistake! That's all!" Danny flinched, the words jostling something in the back of his mind. "Danny, you okay?" Josh asked, seeing the other boys' expression change slightly as he remained silent. "Oh, yeah, sorry," Danny giggled, forcing a smile. "Just... stop being a dick, okay!" "Ugh, you sound like Mr Rudd!" Josh huffed. Danny chuckled as he slapped Josh on the back playfully before walking away. The forced smile gradually faded as he wandered aimlessly for a moment, but stopped as he found himself bumping into the imposing figure of Mr Rudd. "Ah, Danny, just who I was looking for!" the teacher said with a smile. "What did I do?" Danny asked, looking momentarily panicked. The teacher snorted with laughter. "Now there's a sure sign of a guilty conscience if ever I saw one!" he said, shaking his head, getting a heavy blush in return. "You're not in trouble, I just wanted to check you're doing okay!" Danny frowned a little at the man, wondering what he meant. "Being out in the woods... and the date today..." Mr Rudd explained. "Oh, that!" Danny nodded. He had done the best to put the anniversary of his accident out of his mind, but it always remained there, nagging away silently, much like the errant thought Josh had just inadvertently triggered. Keeping himself together, he looked curiously at the teacher and said "I'm... umm, well," He paused for another moment, frowned and stated, "I didn't think you'd even know about it!" "Hnnh, I may be JUST a PE teacher," Mr Rudd smirked, "But I still make it my business to know my students, especially for something so... big!" He got a sullen nod from Danny. "And besides, half the teachers at the school and a fair few of your mates asked me to look out for you today. Seems you're a popular guy, ya know!" Danny blushed, more than a little touched that so many people seemed to be looking out for him. He took a breath and nodded again. "I'm okay, sir. Thanks. Maybe we just... keep away from any giant holes in the ground today and I'll probably be good!" He grinned at his own comment. "Don't worry, there's none of those tunnels this close to the lake anyway. Believe me, I checked just to be sure!" Mr Rudd said with a big smile. "You're nicer than I thought!" Danny said cheekily. Mr Rudd's eyes narrowed as he said, "I'm a bit worried about how often I'm hearing that!" He reached out and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, his strong, heavy fingers squeezing firmly. "But you have ANY problems today or just need to talk about it, you tell me, okay!" "Yes sir, I will," Danny replied, getting another squeeze on the shoulder as he smiled sincerely. ***** "Okay, everyone pack up," Mr Rivera called out to the class as the bell rang. He sighed and shook his head as he added, "And someone wake Chris up!" Nicky elbowed Chris sharply in the ribs, prompting him to sit up sharply and call out, "SEDIMENTARY ROCK FORMATIONS!" As the half-size class burst into laughter, Mr Rivera walked over and said sternly, "This happens again and it'll be detention, Christopher!" "Yes sir," Chris said, trying his best to hold back a yawn but eventually losing to it. Mr Rivera rolled his eyes as he walked away. "Why didn't you wake me?" Chris pouted. "I tried, like... five times but you know how hard you are to wake up!" Nicky said as Rob and Mark both stood waiting for them. "Why don't we go spend break in the next class. Maybe you can get a quick nap before it starts!" he suggested. "Mm-huh," Chris hummed, already looking dozy as he got up, leaning on Nicky as they left the room. Rob and Mark tagged along behind. By the time they got to their next classroom, Chris was virtually asleep as he walked. As Nicky neared Chris' usual desk, he looked to the others and grinned, then whispered, "Help me out here!" He leaned in close to Chris and whispered, "Okay, bed time. We'll help you get ready for bed!" "Mmkay," Chris mumbled dreamily. Thrilled that Chris was too out of it to catch on, Nicky started undressing Chris with help from the other two, quickly removing his whole school uniform, except for his tie which they left on just for comedic effect. Once he was naked, they sat him down, rested his head on his arms on the desk then crept out, clothes in hand. Once they were in the hallway with the door closed, they burst into hysterics, though remained careful not to be too loud. "This feels really mean!" Mark said nervously. "It is!" Nicky nodded. "But trust me, he'll fucking love it! Guessing you haven't met this side of Chris yet!" Mark looked unconvinced until he got a nod of agreement from Rob. Several minutes later, the bell rang to signal the end of break. A quick peek inside showed Chris hadn't been woken by it so they quietly closed the door and waited. The four boys from dorm 1.12 who hadn't gone on the camping trip eventually wandered along. As Kyle went to reach for the door, Nicky stepped in his way, smirked and said, "We should wait for Mr Richter before we go in!" "What? Why?" Kyle asked curiously. "You know he doesn't make us wait outside!" "Oh just... trust us!" Nicky sniggered, his eyes flashing mischievously Mr Richter marched along a minute later, looking a little confused at the small congregation outside the classroom. "Enter!" he barked, always a man of few words. Nicky opened the door and walked in, grinning at Chris who was still sound asleep at his desk. At first, it was easy to miss his nudity, with most of him concealed by the desk and the position he was in, but as the rest of the boys and Mr Richter walked in, they all quickly caught on. As the dorm 1.12 boys burst into laughter, Mr Richter wandered across and stood in front of Chris' desk. He cleared his throat but got no response as the rest of the class quietened. He tried again, louder, but still nothing. "MR SMITH!" he eventually yelled out as he slammed his hand on the desk, sounding extra aggressive thanks to his strong accent. "I'M AWAKE!" Chris yelped as he sat up, pushing himself back from his desk. "Oh, fucking perfect!" Nicky giggled as Chris exposed himself... and his erection. "Mr Smith!" Mr Richter said, clearly unamused. "I do not recall seeing any scheduled punishments for you today! WHERE are your clothes?" "I..." Chris started, blushing heavily as the end of his tie swept across the head of his dick and tickled him slightly. "I honestly don't know, sir!" he stated, absolutely confused until he glared over at his dormmates and saw them laughing. "Why do I find that hard to believe?" Mr Richter asked gruffly. "Lack of imagination?" Chris asked, then immediately realised what he had said and raised his hand to his mouth as he said a muffled, "I'm so sorry sir, I didn't mean that. In my defence, I literally just woke up!" "Detention, tonight," the teacher said as he turned away. "And after class I suggest the rest of you `assist' Mr Smith in locating his clothing unless you all wish to join him!" He looked to the highly-amused group of students whose faces dropped and barked, "Now take your seats!" "You're such a bastard!" Chris groaned as Nicky took a seat beside him. "Don't worry, I'm sure I can make it up to you," Nicky giggled, giving Chris' dick a quick, teasing stroke as he got settled in place for the lesson. ***** "I hope you're all ready to get wet!" Mr Rudd declared as they neared the bank of the lake. "Danny's always ready for that!" Adrian called out, getting a laugh from the group. "Quiet down!" Mr Rudd bellowed over the giggling, though he was sporting a slight smirk himself. "Okay, you're gonna have two hours to build yourselves a raft and you'd better do a good job because at the end of the time, you'll be taking them onto the lake whether they float or not!" "We're doomed!" Andy Walker called out sarcastically. "Shut up, bitch. We got this!" Mikey snapped at his teammate. Mr Rudd gave Mikey a disapproving look for the language, but quickly looked away and continued. "David if you could join team one and Ewan team two, I wouldn't want you to be at a..." "No sir!" Ewan quickly called out. "We're a team!" he insisted, grabbing David's arm and looping his own through it. "Yeah, we wanna fail this together!" David said confidently with a grin. "Exactly!" Ewan agreed, then frowned as he realised what David had actually said and added, "Wait, no..." As the other boys sniggered, much to David's delight, Mr Rudd shrugged and said, "Fine, two man team it is." "Two person!" Ewan added, surprisingly pointedly. Rather than reacting badly to the challenge, Mr Rudd just nodded and said, "Two person team it is! Share the supplies out evenly, and NO cheating. Team two, that means you." He pointed accusingly at Danny and his teammates following the tent incident the previous day. "And please do a good job lads. Fun as it might sound, I'm not having any of you drown on my watch!" "Ugh, you ruin ALL the fun!" David called out sarcastically. "Fine, David can drown, but nobody else!" Mr Rudd called out, stealing the laugh that was heading David's way. "Now get to it!" The boys quickly headed for the massive pile of supplies. After a little squabbling, they all got shared out equally as the five teams split up to work on the project. Just as he had done with the shelter building the night before, Mikey took the lead in his team. The fact their shelter was still standing strong that morning had just reinforced Mikey's confidence in his own skills and leadership. True to his word, Josh had stopped teasing his teammates and, after some initial cautiousness, the three boys were actually working well together. David and Ewan, clearly at a disadvantage thanks to both numbers and physicality weren't letting anything getting in their way, though they seemed to spend as much time messing around and playing together as they did actually working on the task. Team one was working moderately well, but Adrian was undeniably distracted as he kept watching team two working close by. "Oy, stop staring," Jeff Turner said, nudging Adrian from his daze. "We already stole all their good ideas!" he sniggered. "Sorry," Adrian apologised. What had him so concerned was the quietness of team two. He had seen Danny and the other two bond quickly the previous day and they had seemed to be getting on great, but they now worked in virtual silence, Danny far from his usual lively self. Those closest to Danny, which included Adrian, remained painfully conscious of the significance of the day to him. As the two-hour mark passed, Mr Rudd blew loudly on his whistle and called out, "Time's up, lads. If it's not finished now, it's never gonna be!" The boys stopped working, a few quiet squabbles breaking out over unfinished details, but mostly with spirits high. "We'll take a quick break then take `em out and see who lives. No point cooking lunch for fifteen of you if only two of ya survive!" The boys laughed as they began splitting up, some eyeing up the opposition's crafts, others just getting away for a break. Danny was definitely the latter, quietly breaking away from the group to wander further off down the lakeside. As he sat down, staring out over the still water, he let out a heavy sigh. "Oof, that bad, huh?" Adrian asked, having followed along. He took a seat beside Danny. "Sup?" he asked, leaning to the side to nudge him. "It's nothing," Danny said meekly. Adrian smirked. "Yeah, you KNOW I ain't gonna believe that and you know I'll just pester you til you talk to me, so just save both of us some time and get to it!" Danny smiled as he bobbed his head a little, knowing it was true. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly as he said, "If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone else. Ever! Especially Kyle!" Adrian frowned. He was sure that whatever was wrong was related to the accident, so it was surprising to hear Kyle was involved. "Okay," he agreed, cocking his head curiously. "Promise?" Danny demanded. "On my life!" Adrian insisted, raising his hand. Danny let out yet another sigh and said, "It's about... the accident!" Adrian gasped in fake shock, then giggled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, go on!" Shaking his head a little, Danny went on. "Between when we fell into the tunnel and when we got rescued, a lot of what happened is kind of... a blur, y'know, from the concussion and stuff. A lot I can't even remember at all, but sometimes... bits of it come back." "Being out here's bringing it back?" Adrian asked curiously. "No," Danny said, shaking his head. "Well... maybe that's part of it, but... it was just... it was something Josh said this morning. He said... he made a mistake." Adrian frowned and made a gesture with his hand for Danny to keep going. "You really promise you'll NEVER tell Kyle? Or Chris actually!" Danny demanded. "Just tell me!" Adrian snapped. Danny stared out at the lake. He took a breath and said, "When we were down there, Chris told me he thought he'd made a mistake with Kyle!" Adrian shrugged. "Hardly a shocker. We all saw how it ended... and I mean we LITERALLY saw!" he said with a slight smirk. "No, not... the end. The... the beginning!" Danny said, feeling bad for telling Adrian, knowing how he felt about Kyle. "He said going out with him was a mistake!" "Oh!" Adrian exclaimed. "That's... I mean... it's not a great thing to hear and yeah, relax, I'd never tell Kyle but, how does that..." "He said he should have asked me out!" Danny interjected. He looked at Adrian, a little teary and said, "He told me he wished he hadn't started things with Kyle, waited until I was back and... asked me out instead!" "Oh... shit!" Adrian exclaimed, then frowned, sensing there was more. "And I told him... I would have said yes!" Danny said, trembling a little. "Wow," Adrian said, nodding gently. "I mean... not overly surprising, but still wow!" Danny just nodded slowly as he stared blankly ahead. "So, erm... I kinda have a question," Adrian said, pursing his lips thoughtfully as he glanced out at the lake. "Mmkay," Danny replied cautiously. "So what?" Adrian asked, giving a lop-sided grin as he looked back to Danny. "That's not much of a question!" Danny frowned. "Ugh, you're such hard work," Adrian complained. "What I mean is... okay, you remember having that conversation, but... so what? What does it actually change?" "Well..." Danny immediately started, but paused as he thought about it. He hummed slightly, clearly a little annoyed at his own lack of response. "Well... I guess it kinda sucks that... that we said those things to each other, but I forgot it. Chris has never brought it up again so HE knows we said it but he's just been, like, sitting on it!" "Chris does like sitting on things!" Adrian grinned, raising his hand for a high five. As Danny just glared, Adrian said, "Come on! THAT was funny!" "Fine!" Danny huffed, giving a reluctant high five. "But okay, so you had that conversation. So Chris knows you like him, and you know Chris likes you. I repeat my earlier `so what'. Everyone's known that about both of you since the start of year seven! It's hardly a big revelation!" Adrian explained. "Hnnh, I guess," Danny pouted. "Besides, there are worse things in the world than having TOO MANY people love you!" Adrian added with a dismissive shrug. "Good point," Danny conceded. "And... if you think about, it's a good thing for Josh that you and Chris never got together!" Adrian said with a hint of a shrug. "What?" Danny yelped incredulously. "How d'you figure that?" he asked, clearly confused. "Well... the day of... The Incident... remember you told me you only saw Josh heading for the roof because you'd run away from the whole Chris and Kyle thing," Adrian explained. "If all that hadn't happened, you probably woulda just been off shagging Chris somewhere and might not have found Josh!" "Wow, erm... yeah," Danny nodded, a little surprised and unable to really argue the logic. Not really keen to follow that train of thought much further, he smiled and said, "Well, either way, at least I don't need to worry about this any of this stuff for too long?" "You don't?" Adrian asked curiously. "Have you SEEN my team's raft? I'm definitely dying today!" Danny smirked. Adrian jumped to his feet and joked, "Fingers crossed!" He offered a hand to Danny to help him up. Danny took the hand and jumped to his feet just as Mr Rudd shouted over from the rafts, "Come on, you two. Time to feel the icy embrace of death!" As the other boys gathered around him stared in dismay he smiled and said casually, "I'm sure you'll be fine!" ***** Brian stood at the window of his dorm, staring out across the school grounds towards the treeline. He knew he was looking at the wrong area, but the area with the lake was on the opposite side of the building and it was mostly a symbolic stare anyway. He knew he wouldn't actually SEE Danny even if he was looking the right way, it just allowed him to think about him... and worry! He let out a hearty sigh. Suddenly, from behind him, came the sound of `All By Myself' by Celine Dion. He turned to see Joseph holding out his phone and looking thoroughly amused with himself for the musical tease. "Fucker!" Brian grunted. "Sorry, just helping set the mood," Joseph grinned as he stopped the music. "You really gonna spend your whole birthday moping?" "I'm not moping. I'm worrying! There's a difference!" Brian snapped, flopping down onto his bed. "And I think I'm allowed to worry about my boyfriend being in the place that nearly killed him on the anniversary of the day he nearly died!" Joseph puffed out his cheeks, exhaling slowly for a moment as he shook his head. "I mean... sure, you CAN do that, but... why fucking bother?" "Because I actually care about him, fuckwit!" Brian snapped angrily as he sat up but immediately found himself staring up at a furious-looking Joseph. "I care about him plenty and don't you EVER fucking dare suggest I don't!" Joseph snarled, immediately recoiling at his own anger. He took a few steps back and sat down on his own bunk, catching his breath. "Wow, erm... okay, maybe I'm a bit on edge too!" he mumbled, clearly shaken. "Mate," Brian said as he moved across to sit beside Joseph, putting an arm around his best friend. "I get it, and I wasn't... suggesting you don't care. I know you love the little prick as much as I do. It's okay!" "Do you even remember what it was like?" Joseph asked wistfully, leaning slightly against Brian as he shook his head. "I mean before Chris and Danny and being mentors and all that. When it was just, like... the eight of us, hanging out in our dorm and doing stupid things and, like... getting naked in class and stuff?" Brian chuckled and said, "Erm, no, not really! I don't really remember much..." Joseph huffed to cut his friend off. "If you say you don't remember stuff before Danny I will LITERALLY vomit in your face!" he snapped, sounding worryingly serious. "Totally wasn't going to say that!" Brian said, completely unconvincingly. "Good, now come on, I was kind enough to put my crippling and debilitating depression on hold for a day to celebrate your birthday, so the least you could do is enjoy it!" Joseph chuckled. Brian immediately felt bad. Sure, his worry felt justified, but he had been so caught up in it that he had all but forgotten about Joseph and the aftermath of his recent breakup with Ian. Joseph had been taking it pretty hard and it genuinely did feel like he had put it aside just for the day. Exactly the sort of thing his best friend had always done for him. "You're right, we should celebrate!" Brian said, more for Joseph's benefit than any actual desire to do so himself. "Good, cos we're having a party in the Common Room in, like, half an hour!" Joseph grinned. "Wow, did you really think it'd take half an hour to convince me?" Brian smirked. "Nah, I know you well enough to guilt trip you into anything in seconds," Joseph admitted with a snigger. "The rest of the time was for your present!" "Which would be what?" Brian asked curiously. "Well Danny's not here to give you a birthday fuck, so..." Joseph started, swinging round to straddle Brian's lap, "Happy birthday!" He leaned in and started kissing Brian, arms wrapping around him. Brian melted into the kiss for a moment then pushed Joseph away slightly. Much like Danny, he had a self-imposed `no kissing' rule, wanting to keep something just for the two of them, but also like Danny, there were always exceptions! Staring into Joseph's eyes, he sighed contentedly before giving a quick smile that vanished into another kiss. Their hands quickly began to grasp at each other's clothes, pulling them off, mouths only parting for fleeting moments as t-shirts slid over their heads before it resumed. Joseph pushed Brian back to lay on the bed, laying atop him as he changed from gentle, glancing blows of his lips to a full-on, tongue-lashing embrace. They barely even parted as Joseph began position himself to ride Brian's thick cock, straddling his stomach before pushing his hips back to allow him to impale himself on it. Brian groaned as his dick slipped inside his best friend, but they were mostly lost in the shared, muffled moans of their continued kissing. Joseph continued to slide his hips back and forth, milking Brian with his butt, his own rigid meat pressed between their naked bodies. As Joseph finally sat up, still happily riding the rigid tool, he smiled down at Brian who looked pleasantly bewildered by the passionate encounter. "I swear..." Brian panted, "... you're getting... better at this!" "Thanks, I think!" Joseph smirked, frowning a little. He reached down and grabbed Brian's hand and placed it onto his cock, the intent clear. As Brian started stroking the erection bobbing in front of him, he looked up at Joseph's slender frame, the slight tuft of downy ginger hair on his stomach that disappeared into his fiery pubes, a few shades darker than the little patch that appeared under his arm as he raised his hand to run through his hair. "You're pretty hot... ya know... for a ginger!" "You're not too bad yourself, ya gingerist arsehole!" Joseph smirked. "Gingerism isn't a thing!" Brian argued. "If I say it's a thing on behalf of my people, it's a thing!" Joseph said with a cocky grin. "Well if I'm abusing a ginger," Brian said, sitting up to wrap his arms around Joseph. He suddenly tossed him to the side, rolling with him as Joseph fell onto his back, cock still inside him. He lifted Joseph's legs and started pounding hard into him. "Then I should REALLY abuse him!" he finished, in the new position. "Fuck!" Joseph grunted as Brian started jack-hammering into his arse. Joseph never had much of a butt, but it was enough to allow a loud slapping sound on each inward thrust as Brian slammed against it. "Oh my fucking god!" he gasped, both hands raising to his head, grasping at his hair. "I'm good, but I don't... ugh... think I'd call me... fuck yeah... a `fucking god'!" Brian giggled, pausing occasionally to groan with sheer erotic ecstasy. "But thanks!" "Oh shit, oh fuck," Joseph gasped. "B... Bri... ugh... oh fuuuuuuck!" he squeaked, his hands grasping desperately at the bed covers as he began to shoot, his cock stimulated only by the pounding on the prostate. "Wow, I fucked... the cum right outta you!" Brian laughed before letting out a series of grunts that signalled his own climax was about to begin. He leaned down, feeling the warm wetness of Joseph's load between their bodies as they kissed, unloading his spunk inside him at the same time. The kiss continued several moments after the orgasm subsided, stopping only when they both needed to catch their breaths. Brian pulled out and flopped down onto the bed beside Joseph, feeling an arm wrap around him. Brian cuddled up to his friend, his head on the slender chest, an arm gripped tightly around his waist. "Mmm, this is nice," Brian said dreamily. He felt Joseph's lips gently press against his forehead, a calm moment of shared affection before the stresses of the day could creep back in. ***** "I can't believe we did so well!" Ewan said excitedly as he climbed into the tent. Like all of the boys at the camp, he was soaking wet following the raft-making activity. "I can't believe you'd consider what we did as `doing well', to be honest!" David sniggered, following in behind him. "What? We stayed afloat for ages! That counts as doing well!" Ewan insisted. David frowned at the other boy and said, "I don't think clinging to a couple of barrels and screaming `oh god, we're gonna drown, save me Aquaman' really counts!" "True, but imagine if he's actually showed up!" Ewan grinned. "I'd be his Mera any day!" David chuckled, but frowned at the comment. It was one of many Ewan had made over the last couple of days that made him want to ask something, but he was having such an unexpectedly fun time with the other boy that he didn't want to ruin it, so he remained quiet as they quickly changed. "Okay, you're gonna have to help me!" Ewan insisted, laying on his back and waggling his legs in the air. "Skinny jeans were NOT a sensible fashion choice for a water-based activity! Peel me, David!" David burst into laughter at the request, but leaned down to grab the opened waistband of Ewan's jeans and began peeling the tight garment off. "Need help with anything else?" David asked as he pulled the jeans free, then blushed as he realised what he was actually suggesting. "I'm good from here!" Ewan said, sitting up to pull his t-shirt off. There was a squelching noise as it started to peel upwards, but as his arms and head disappeared inside it, he called out, "Nope, spoke too soon. Save me Aquaman... or David!" David laughed as he reached over and helped remove the soggy clothing. As Ewan's head popped free, he stared up at David who looked back at him. It almost felt like seeing him for the first time as he sat there in nothing but a pair of wet briefs. His hair, usually a sandy brown was darkened by the lake water as it lay messily, covering one side of his forehead. His eyes, a deep chocolate brown seemed to stand out more as the wetness emphasised the long lashes framing them. The grin that lit up his face was highlighted by little dimples, while his entire pale complexion was peppered with barely-visible freckles. "You... look really good wet!" David said, not really sure he meant to say it, but unable to stop thinking it. "You can thank your own inability to tie knots for that!" Ewan said cheekily. "Me?" David gasped. "The shade of it! It was YOUR design!" he said as he pulled his t-shirt off more successfully than Ewan had managed. As he turned to place it down behind him, he felt hands grab at his sweatpants and yank them down. "My design woulda worked if you coulda tied a knot property!" Ewan said David yelped out and span, getting caught in the clothing. David toppled on top of Ewan, their bare torsos carrying the lingering wetness of the lake and accompanying chill, but with the natural body heat beneath, a strange but not unpleasant dichotomy. "Sorry!" he said as he lay, his face mere inches from the other boy's. "Totally... my fault..." Ewan said, shuddering a little. David felt a strange churning in his stomach. His tongue involuntarily poked out to wet his lips as he moved just a little closer. "We..." Ewan started, pulling out suddenly from beneath David, "... should get dressed before we miss lunch. Most important meal of the... lunchtime, ya know!" he said awkwardly. David chuckled a little at the comment but couldn't help feeling he had just made a horrible mistake. Ewan may have laughed it off with a joke, but he was clearly uncomfortable about what had just happened. David jumped to his feet and said, "Yeah, lunch we should... yeah, lunch!" The two boys quickly finished changing, keeping their backs to each other as they did it before heading out to re-join the group to eat. ***** Chris had just finished up with his detention. Fortunately, it had been a fairly low-key punishment for a change, just sitting in the detention room with a couple of other students writing an annoyingly pointless essay. Having finished up, he rushed back to the Home Building and up to the first floor where he had just knocked on the door to Mr Trent's apartment, laptop held under his arm. The door opened and Blane appeared. He rolled his eyes and called back, "It's only Chris!" "Wow, rude much!" Chris scowled at his big brother. "May I speak with Levi?" he requested politely. "No, but MISTER Trent is in!" Blane corrected him, finding it increasingly difficult to get Chris to refer to the First-Floor Master by his formal name at school. "That's what I said," Chris replied with a shrug. As Mr Trent peered round the corner from the living area, it was quite obvious he was in the process of getting dressed. "Everything okay, Chris?" he asked. "And what've you two been doing?" Chris asked with a grin. "Getting ready to punish the next little langer who thinks he's funny. Are you volunteering?" Blane asked bluntly. "Maybe!" Chris sniggered to Blane, then looked to Mr Trent and said, "I'm fine, I just wanted your input as a teacher on something. You... do still teach here, don't you?" "Wow, he's really pushing it tonight, isn't he?" Blane asked as he grabbed Chris by the collar and pulled him inside before closing the door. "Go on," he said, pushing Chris on before giving him a playful kick to the butt to keep him going. "That's child abuse!" Chris pouted. "Keep going and I'll really show you child abuse!" Blane growled as he walked along behind the sniggering teen. "Ya know, I'm okay if you want to finish what you were doing!" Chris joked, then sniffed heavily and said, "Oh, wait, smells like you already did!" As Blane went to lunge for the boy, Mr Trent gestured for him to hold back, much to the elder sibling's annoyance. "How can I help you, Chris?" he asked formally. Chris opened his laptop and handed it to the teacher and said, "I was hoping you could take a look at this!" He looked a little shy as Mr Trent took the laptop. "What is it?" the man asked curiously as he placed the laptop on his desk and took a seat. "Ya know for the SCIPS drama competition this year how the theme's a classic twist on a literary classic? Well I got this idea last night and ended up staying up ALL night writing it. It's only a first draft, but I wanted you to give me some feedback, y'know, on the general idea and plot and stuff!" Chris explained. "You know it's Mr Warren who decides what we'll enter," Mr Trent replied. Though he was the school's drama teacher, his duties as First-Floor Master prevented him from leading the Drama Club, which was instead helmed by Mr Rubeus `Ruby' Warren. "Yeah," Chris said as he took a seat on the sofa across the room, "But you know how picky Ruby is about `his art'," Chris said, imitating the other teacher for a moment with a flamboyant gesture, "So I want it to be as good as possible before I show it to him!" "Okay, I might need to take some time to read it fully, but I'll give it a quick skim now," Mr Trent smiled, glad to see Chris wasn't as much of a mess as he had expected with Danny off in the woods. Blane took a seat beside Chris and they started chatting quietly while Mr Trent read. Fifteen minutes later, Mr Trent span in his chair and started, "Chris, this is..." "Shhh," Blane whispered, gesturing to Chris who was resting against him, sound asleep. "Is it any good?" he asked, feeling quite proud of his younger sibling. Mr Trent nodded. He smiled at first but it dropped a little after a moment as he sighed gently and stared at the sleeping boy. "It's kind of like a re-telling of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream!" he said softly. "He DOES love his Shakespeare!" Blane whispered. "That's what they did at the drama showcase last month, wasn't it?" "Mmm-huh," Mr Trent hummed, looking visibly concerned. "What's up?" Blane asked nervously. The teacher frowned a little. "He's called it A Midsummer Night's Scream!" Mr Trent replied. "Cute," Blane giggled. "Yeah, but... it's basically about a group of teens who go off into the woods and get killed off one at a time!" the teacher said with a sigh. "Oh!" Blane exclaimed. "I think he's struggling with all of this even more than he's letting on!" Mr Trent said, still transfixed on Chris. "Do we... need to do something?" Blane asked, the arm wrapped around his little brother tightening just a little. Mr Trent stared at Blane for a moment then shook his head as he replied, "Maybe, maybe not. I think we just have to wait and see!" As he got an understanding nod from Blane, he glanced at the laptop again and smiled. "I tell ya what though, this actually pretty damn good!" he said proudly. ***** "Definitely no more spooky stories!" Jeff Turner had insisted as the boys gathered around the campfire after dinner. "David's story gave poor lil Adrian here nightmares!" Adrian shrugged as the others laughed. "I'm just very in touch with my feelings and should NOT be shamed for that!" he insisted petulantly. "He needed to pee in the middle of the night and made me go with him!" Tim Clarke, the third member of their team chimed in. "Yeah, but that was probably so you could help him find his tinky winky!" Danny called out, grinning at finally being to get an insult back on Adrian who seemed to love publicly ridiculing him so much. After the laughing and small penis insults died down, Mr Rudd suggested funny stories instead of spooky stories, which led to a much more enjoyable evening all round, though the group did gradually begin to disperse. "Y'alright, tinky winky?" Danny asked playfully as he approached Adrian who was sat alone warming his hands near the fire. "You know I'll get you back for that!" Adrian insisted. "Oh please, I owe you, like, a million insults by now!" Danny sniggered. "True," Adrian shrugged, then smiled at Danny and said, "You seem... happier now!" Danny nodded, holding his hands out towards the roaring flames. "Yeah," he said, looking thoughtful. "I think you were right. Having a boyfriend who I love so much AND a friend who loves me too... that's really not something to be sad about!" "Wow, personal growth, I'm so proud!" Adrian said mockingly with a wry grin. "Shut up," Danny smirked. "And speaking of friends who you love..." "I swear, if you try and tell me to go for it with Kyle one more time, I'm throwing you on the fire!" Adrian threatened. "My secret love is fine to stay secret!" "Actually I wasn't even thinking about Kyle!" Danny said, then grinned as he added, "But now that you bring him up..." He paused as Adrian gave him his best `don't you dare' stare. Danny chuckled and said, "Kidding. Just kidding! I was actually just gonna say... thank you to you!" "You're welcome!" Adrian said confidently, then frowned and asked, "Erm... for what?" "Just for... being you!" Danny said, starting to feel a little awkward. Adrian looked smug for a moment before he boasted, "See, good friendships can come from keeping secret love a secret!" "You..." Danny started, but didn't want to say the words. He knew Adrian had been attracted to him back in Year 7, but that seemed so long ago now and they had become good friends since then. Adrian shrugged. "I did," he admitted frankly. "Maybe I still do a bit. I dunno," he said, not even sounding slightly awkward about it. "Aww, well... I guess I love you too," Danny said, slipping an arm around his waist. "Obviously not in THAT way, because... eww!" he said gesturing to Adrian in general. "Rude!" Adrian pouted. "But I love you... in some way!" Danny added, holding him gently. The two boys continued chatting for a few minutes before David approached and asked gingerly, "Danny, have you... got a sec?" "Sure, Adrian was just leaving!" Danny said, playfully shoving the other boy away. "Yeah, totally, I was just thinking I miss being cold and damp, so I'll just..." Adrian said, gesturing away from the fire as he headed off to join some of the others, flashing Danny a final grin. "Sup, bud?" Danny asked as David took a seat beside him. David sighed as he stared into the heart of the fire. "David?" Danny asked, stroking the smaller boy's back supportively. "How did... things happen... with Brian?" David asked, careful to keep his voice low. As Danny stared at him, clearly confused, he elaborated, "I mean... how did you know you liked him and... and... how did you know he liked you?" "Ah, mate, I'm SO not the guy to ask about this!" Danny baulked, shaking his head. "Me and Brian were NOT normal, I mean... if there IS any such thing as normal round here, but... yeah... we probably didn't go like most couples and I'd hate to steer you wrong!" "Yeah, I get that," David sighed, "But, can you at least tell me when you KNEW how you felt?" Danny shook his head. "I... don't actually think I can. I kinda... liked him before I even knew I liked him and by the time I could even admit I LIKED him, I already LOVED him." "That's..." David started, but frowned, unable to find the words. "Exactly!" Danny nodded in agreement with David's confusion. "That's why I'm probably not your guy!" he explained. "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed as he looked at David with a slight grin. "Does this mean... is there... somebody?" David blushed, though it was hard to spot in the light of the campfire. "I don't know if there's somebody, but there was... a thing... and... and a feeling... and... now it's REALLY confusing!" "Ah mate, I so wish I could help," Danny said, giving David a quick squeeze. "But I think the best I can do is tell you the thing I wish someone had told me a few months back!" As David looked at him curiously, he said, "Just talk about it. Be open, be honest and just... be yourself." "Thanks," David sighed, smiling meekly. "So who is it?" Danny asked with a grin. "Are you back onto James? Or is it Mark? You fell in love talking about drag queens! No, oh-em-gee, is it Mr Rudd? Has seeing him out here in the wild ignited your passion for him?" "You're so dumb," David sniggered, elbowing Danny playfully. ***** Mr Rudd climbed into his tent and stared at the boy sat in front of him. He sat down too, intentionally blocking the tent's exit in case of any attempt to flee. After most of the day had gone so well, he expected to have the tent to himself for the night, but just half an hour earlier he had heard a commotion and gone to investigate, only to find Josh attempting to beat the crap out of Jenson. It was only the three boys holding him back that stopped him from actually striking him. "It wasn't my fault!" Josh insisted before the teacher could even talk. "I swear. I was on my best behaviour ALL day, you KNOW that. You saw it. I didn't do ANYTHING wrong!" "I saw you attempting to assault a fellow student!" Mr Rudd said bluntly as he slipped on his glasses, usually only wearing them in private. "Yeah, well... I guess that bit IS my fault, but only because he DESERVED it!" Josh said, folding his arms as he pouted petulantly as he looked away moodily. "Okay," Mr Rudd nodded. After the previous day's antics, it would have been so easy to simply dismiss what Josh was saying and assume the worst, but he was determined to give the boy a fair shot. "Then tell me what he did!" "He..." Josh started, then paused, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. You wouldn't get it. Just... do whatever you gotta do!" Mr Rudd frowned a little at the comment. "What wouldn't I get?" he asked softly. "I told you, it doesn't matter!" Josh pouted. "It does matter, Josh. At least, it matters to me!" Mr Rudd insisted. "Because you're right. You really were on your best behaviour today. You gave Jenson a very sincere apology. You worked SO well with them on your raft and you helped other teams too when they were struggling to stay afloat." "You saw that?" Josh blushed. He really had tried his best to be good all day, not just to stay on the good side of his team, but to try and make the teacher proud too. "Yeah, and I saw you share some of your lunch with Tommy when he dropped his in the fire and all the many REALLY good things you've done today. It was a GOOD day, which makes this fight seem so... disappointing, so I do WANT to understand! If you'll let me!" the teacher said, staring at Josh who simply stared back, doe eyed. Josh felt a warm swell of pride hearing such good things from the teacher he had found himself so strangely drawn to, which just made his thoughts about the fight seem even more bleakly unpleasant. "Jen... erm... Jenson... put a spider on me!" Josh said shakily. "Then... then laughed when... when I freaked out!" Mr Rudd nodded, frowning a little. "Okay, that's definitely a little mean," he agreed. "IT'S MORE THAN THAT!" Josh yelled at him, but then cowered back, staring down at his hands, picking at his nails. "Sorry," he whispered. "Okay, so there's more to it," Mr Rudd acknowledged with a nod. "D'you want to explain it to me?" he asked softly. "Not really," Josh answered honestly. As silence lingered between them, Josh's eyes flicked up briefly and he saw Mr Rudd still staring at him. It was becoming a strange experience looking at him. Like most of the school, at first all he saw was the imposing figure of a tall, muscled, tattooed and somewhat intimidating looking PE teacher. As he had gradually come to know the man better, the intense, hazel eyes began to look less imposing and more caring. The massive frame less intimidating and more... cuddly! He glanced again, the man still fixated on him. "Do you... know?" he asked cautiously. "I mean... about..." he paused to take a breath, "... my history?" "I know... some of it," Mr Rudd admitted with a slow head bob. "I know you've really... not had an easy life!" "My..." Josh started, unsure what to say. He had almost called Ryan and Mark his `brothers' but they really weren't anymore. Scowling, he tried again and said, "My ABUSERS did a lot of things to me and... and Dr Arkwright says I have a lot of... he calls them triggers... because of what they did!" "Spiders are a trigger for you, then?" Mr Rudd asked, cocking his head sympathetically. Josh nodded. "I... managed to go, like, eleven years without them ever knowing I was scared of them, but... as soon as they did..." he paused, looking tearful. "You don't have to tell me if it's too hard," Mr Rudd assured Josh, shuffling closer to Josh. "No, I..." Josh huffed and insisted, "It's okay. They... held me down and let a spider crawl on my bare chest... and when I freaked out they said I'd earned worse and put it on my face and said I had to not make any noise, but obviously I did cos there was a fucking spider on my face, so they said they were going to put it in my mouth but... a friend stopped them before they could!" Mr Rudd winced at the description of the abuse, doing his best not to look too upset by it. Henodded thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm guessing, Jenson and... probably most of the others out... don't know about that?" he asked softly. Josh shook his head. He sighed and said, "I guess they thought it was... just... like a regular prank!" "Probably," Mr Rudd said, then added, "But that doesn't make it okay." "No it doesn't," Josh agreed, then added thoughtfully, "But that doesn't make it okay for me to hit him.. or try to!" "That's true," Mr Rudd said with a slightly proud smile. "From knowing that lot, if they were pranking you that probably means they like you, so it seems you really did do good work today. It'd be a shame to let all that go to waste!" Josh nodded his agreement. Mr Rudd let out a hearty sigh as he shook his head. "What are we gonna do with you, huh?" he asked softly. As Josh just shrugged, he looked at his watch and said, "Well there's still time for the two of you to make up if you want. Or we could leave it for the morning and then have a talk with them! How d'you feel about that?" "Can I stay with you?" Josh asked, but blushed and looked away as he said, "What I mean is... can I... stay in here?" "Sure," Mr Rudd said with a smile. "You get yourself ready for bed. I'm gonna go do the rounds!" ***** The awkward silence that started at lunchtime between David and Ewan had continued all afternoon, and now felt like it had climbed into their tent in place of a third team member. Aside from a few casual comments of `fun afternoon' or `dinner was weird', the only exchange came as they turned the lights out and both said good night. They had been laying in the dark for about fifteen minutes when David finally broke, hoping he wasn't too late. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out. When he got no response, he asked quietly, "Are you... awake?" "Erm... yeah," Ewan replied. "It's just... why are YOU sorry?" "For... for messing things up and making things weird!" David said, rolling over to face Ewan, although it was too dark to see him anyway. "We were... having so much fun and it was... it was so nice getting to know you and stuff cos you're really funny and nice and I... I went and... and I made you feel uncomfortable and I'm really sorry cos I don't have a lot of friends, at least, not outside my dorm so I was really scared when we got split up but then I got put with you and realised you weren't scary and I really liked it and now I just feel stupid and I don't even know why I'm still talking!" He stopped as he felt Ewan reach out and touch him. "Sorry, I'll shut up!" "No!" Ewan insisted. "Actually... yeah, shut up, cos you're talking bollocks, but... you... didn't mess anything up!" "Kinda feels like I did," David replied, "Because of everything being... ya know... messed up!" Ewan chuckled at the faultless logic but insisted, "No this was... it wasn't you!" "It wasn't?" David asked, feeling like a weight had been lifted from him. "No. It's... I... it's just..." Ewan stuttered, then let out a low groan of frustration. David just remained silent, allowing the other boy a moment to compose himself. "Look, I... I have a thing and it's, well, it's not something I'm ready to talk about, but... I was kinda hoping that... that we could still be friends even if I don't," Ewan said, then added in an almost inaudible whisper, "At least until I'm ready to tell you!" "So... you don't hate me... and you still wanna be friends?" David asked, sounding ecstatic. "No, I thought YOU hated me!" Ewan said, giggling from sheer relief. David thought for a moment about Ewan had said. He had already made a guess about what his `thing' was. Perhaps he could suggest it, make it easier for him, take the pressure off? But what if he was wrong? But also, was it to make it easier for Ewan, or... for himself? He opted to just respect the other boy's wishes as he replied, "Definitely not. You're absolutely my second favourite person in this tent!" "Oh now I just feel special!" Ewan said with a hearty laugh. "And you're definitely top five for me!" "Aww too kind," David replied. "Erm... I might have... just been hanging around some of my dorm too much, but if I was with one of them now, we'd probably..." He didn't get to finish the sentence as he felt Ewan lunge at him and pull him into a hug. "Yeah, this!" he said, happily holding him in return. ***** Mr Rudd paused as he climbed back into the tent, suppressing a smile at the sight of Josh. He was completely cocooned in his sleeping bag, only his eyes visible from the small opening he had left. "Comfortable?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not really," Josh replied, his voice muffled. "But at least I'm warm!" "Well I never promised comfort," Mr Rudd sniggered as he zipped up the tent. "I had a quick chat with Jenson." "Does he hate me?" Josh asked sadly. "No," the teacher insisted, shaking his head. "I... didn't tell him everything, I just told him that spiders were... a big thing for you. He already felt bad for freaking you out that much, but he sends his apologies!" "I need to..." Josh started, his face emerging from the sleeping bag. "Hold up!" Mr Rudd said, raising a hand, "I already told him you're sorry too. He says you're all good!" "Oh, so do I have to..." Josh started, looking at the way out. "Nah, you asked to stay here and I'm okay with that," Mr Rudd said with a nod. "A little extra body heat is always appreciated on a night like this!" "So I'm just here as your human radiator?" Josh asked, finally venturing a smile. "No!" Mr Rudd insisted. "You're also my entertainment!" he laughed. "Charming," Josh pouted, but quickly smiled a little as he settled back down. "Josh," the man said, sounding quite serious as he started climbing into his sleeping bag. "I just wanted to... to thank you, for trusting me with the stuff you told me." "I'm just glad you understand!" Josh said with a small head bob. "Ah, ya see," Mr Rudd said, looking round at Josh suddenly with a thoughtful smile. "I don't!" he said firmly. As he got a curious look back from Josh, he went on, "That's something that's important to remember. Nobody will ever fully understand, not really." "They won't?" Josh asked, looking a little dismayed. "Well... how could they?" Mr Rudd asked with a shrug. "You can tell... your friends or your therapist what it was like to... I dunno, hide under the bed because you knew you'd get a beating if they found you, but they'll never KNOW... never really UNDERSTAND how that felt, will they?" "I guess not," Josh said, looking a little disheartened. "Sorry, I'm not trying to upset you. And I definitely don't wanna put you off talking about it because it's SO important that you do, and it seems you're making that progress," Mr Rudd assured him. "But it always used to annoy me when people told me they understand when they never really can!" Josh stared back at him for a few moments. "Some people can relate, people who've been through their OWN things, but... they've never been through YOUR thing! Does that... make sense?" "Yes sir, I think it does," Josh said, giving a meek smile. He thought for a moment and asked, "Sir, what was it that you had that people said that they `understand'?" "Hnnh," the man chuckled. "Not really the time or the place, but..." he reached out and touched Josh's shoulder gently, "I... can definitely relate!" Josh tilted his head to the side slightly, so his cheek rested on the teacher's hand. They remained like that for several seconds before both settling in to sleep. "G'night Josh," Mr Rudd said sleepily. "Night sir!" Josh replied. Considering the emotional downward spiral he had been on just an hour earlier, he felt surprisingly positive as he lay there trying to sleep. He considered trying to start another conversation, but he worried he might cross the line from impishly cheeky to outright annoying and allowed the teacher to sleep. Within minutes, the gentle snoring made it clear Mr Rudd was out cold. Josh's mind had gone onto his usual bedtime routine – `wank time' as it was known in the dorm. He was used to having it every night, and sometimes in the morning, and occasionally during morning break if he was feeling particularly frisky, but it had now been over 48 hours since his last release and it was beginning to feel... urgent! It was hard to make out the shape of the teacher at his side with almost no light, but as his eyes adjusted, he could just make him out. Definitely asleep. So maybe that meant it was safe to... Josh's hand reached down to grasp his small but solid erection. Any concerns over safety were gone, he knew he was going to have to cum before he got to sleep and now he had started, stopping was simply not an option. He closed his eyes to fantasise and help himself along, but his eyes soon opened again and slowly moved back across to Mr Rudd. He was laying on his back, one arm inside the sleeping bag, the other one, the one nearest Josh, was out. He was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, but Josh didn't need to guess what was awaiting beneath the t-shirt, he had seen it – all of it! Mr Rudd had showered with the Year 9 class early on in his time at the school and while it was not something he did regularly, there had been a few occasions since then that he had repeated it. It was never anything sinister, or sexual. Normally it was just when he had gotten more hands-on in outdoor PE classes and gotten as muddy as the students had, happily showering off with the class. Needless to say, he was a popular sight. Even for the students who weren't into older guys, muscles, tattoos or body hair, not one of them could deny that Mr Rudd was an exceptionally attractive man. Josh had also felt that attraction, from the first moment he saw him, but it was not quite as simple as some of the other boys. Many of them called him hot, or joked about `knocking one out' over him, while a few of the more adventurous ones talked about letting him dominate them. Josh didn't want any of that. Yes there was a sense of arousal somewhere in it, but Josh just wanted... something. He didn't know what, he didn't know why and he couldn't explain it, but the man had something he needed. That `something' remained as elusive as ever, but one thing that remained undeniable was the throbbing boner in Josh's grasp. He tugged away at it, restraint slowly giving way to pleasure as his movements changed from silent and cautious to pleasured and noisy. He reached out with his free hand and held it close to Mr Rudd's arm. He could feel the faint heat radiating from it and it sent shudders through his whole body. As arousal gradually ate away at his inhibitions, Josh let his hand lower, resting gently on the firm, taut bicep. Wanking away with his other hand, he began to let out gentle whimpers of pleasure, the merest touch of the man pushing him to the edge almost unnervingly quickly. "Ah, fuck!" Josh gasped as he began to cum, his fingers unintentionally gripping the man's arm. "Josh, what are you..." Mr Rudd started, but paused as he felt the hand gripping his arm. "Sorry sir!" Josh immediately yelped. "Just one of those things where you feel like you're falling and wake up suddenly!" "Okay. Just... go back to sleep!" Mr Rudd said, glad nothing serious was wrong. Josh breathed a sigh of relief and rolled over, felt the wetness of his spunk and said, "Yes sir!" ***** Wednesday 1 December 2021 "Something's definitely happened!" Chris whispered. "Look!" he said, showing his phone to Nicky. "What? Your creepy stalker app shows they're back!" Nicky said with a shrug. "Yeah, but LOOK where they are!" Chris said, tapping the screen so emphatically that he accidentally scrolled away and had to move the map back before he repeated, "Look!" As Nicky just shrugged at him, he continued, "It shows he's at the Doctor's office!" "What!" Nicky exclaimed. "It just shows he's at Home!" "Yeah, where the Doctor's office is!" Chris insisted nervously. "Also where we LIVE!" Nicky sighed, shaking his head in sheer frustration. Chris had been like this all morning, questioning why they weren't moving, or questioning their pace, or questioning whether some psychotic killer was just carrying Danny's dead body as a kind of trophy! "Sir!" Chris said, suddenly raising his hand. "I think I need to go to the Doctor's office!" Mr Francis looked over at Chris, as did the rest of the class. "Are you unwell!" "No sir," Nicky quickly interjected. "Chris is just having a low-key emotional breakdown but he'll be fine at lunch! Please ignore him, we're sorry for disturbing class, sir!" "Chris?" Mr Francis asked, raising an eyebrow. "He's right, sorry sir," Chris pouted as the rest of the class got back to the exercise they were working on. Chris looked at Nicky and growled, "You're so mean to me!" "You'll get over it!" Nicky insisted. "Now shut up focus on human rights before I start breaching yours!" As Chris continued to pout, Nicky leaned over to nudge him and whispered, "Only twenty minutes and we can go catch up with `em. It's all okay!" Chris sighed and nodded as he forced himself to try and work. Twenty minutes later, when the bell rang to signal the end of class, Chris literally ran out of the room, with Nicky and Mark running along behind. It wasn't a long walk from School to Home, so at a run it took no time at all, though they were shouted at to slow down the moment they got inside and started up the stairs. In a run that was poorly disguised as a walk, they hurried round to the dorm and burst in, making David who was stood near the door at the time virtually hit the ceiling. "You're alive!" Chris called out, seeing all four of his returned dormmates. "Were we... not supposed to be?" Mikey asked with a smirk. "It's been a... long couple of days!" Nicky said, shaking his head. Danny had been drying himself off, having just had a second shower to clean off, in his words, `three days of stank' but quickly wrapped his towel around his waist. Thoughts of the lost conversation he had recently remembered, the near-death confession of their feelings, had lingered in Danny's head for two days now, but seeing Chris seemed to make it even more prominent on his thoughts. "You're okay!" Chris said quietly, more for his own benefit than Danny's as he got near. Danny stepped forward and pulled Chris into a hug as he whispered, "I am now!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. New chapters will post weekly, so be back same time next week for more! If you have any questions or comments, my email is always open at matterotica@hotmail.co.uk. Alternatively, I can be found on patreon where I also post my stories, along with bonus content and exclusives, at patreon.com/matterotica If you wish to read any of my other stories, please see below for links --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Kingswood Saga ------------------ Tales from Kingswood (Book 1)– https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/tales-from-kingswood/ Half-Term at Kingswood (Book 1 bonus story) – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/half-term-at-kingswood/ The Kingswood Eight (Book 2) - https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/the-kingswood-eight/ A Very Kingswood Easter (Book 2 bonus story) - https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/a-very-kingswood-easter/ The Benny Saga (in reading order) -------------- Benny Takes Control – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/benny-takes-control/ The Dangers of Desire – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/the-dangers-of-desire/ Benny's House – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/bennys-house/ Other Series ------------ Possession – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/possession-series/ Jack Hamilton – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jack-hamilton/ Phil's Naked Adventures – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/phils-naked-adventures/ One-shots --------- The Art of Seduction – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-art-of-seduction Jake's Exposure – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jakes-exposure Becoming an Internet Master – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/becoming-an-internet-master Brian's Big Mistake – http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/brians-big-mistake And Then It Got Worse – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/masturbation/and-then-it-got-worse Missed Opportunity – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/missed-opportunity