OPEN QUESTION.

Usual Disclaimer: If you are not 18 years old yet do not read.
If you are offended by male to male sexual content definitely do not read.
If the laws in your state or country forbid this type of material, do not read.
Otherwise enjoy the story and genuine comments will be appreciated.
The author retains copyright (2010) to this story. Reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright.
This story is fiction.
Thank you Nifty for the opportunity to post this story.

In chapter four, along with several surprising disclosures, Brendan was forced to take part in two rocket shows.

Open Question Chapter 5.

Consciousness stirred and as Brendan's eyes cracked open, his mind struggled to orient itself.
Cold.
Naked.
Brian's house.
Urgent priority for the toilet.
Unsteadily he made his way, relieved the first priority, then washed his hands and face.
Clothes.
He must find his clothes.
They weren't in the room where he'd been sleeping and then he felt extra naked walking around a strange house.
What?
His necklace. Martin must have it.
Brendan went straight to Martin's room, walked in and examined the sleeping form. Yes, there it was, around his neck.
A moment later it was back where it belonged and soon after that Brendan was walking out the front door with half a packet of chips, and, since he couldn't find his own gear, wearing Martin's jeans, T-shirt and runners.
It took an hour to walk home, then fifteen minutes to get on the road with Lucas's mountain bike.

***

"Phillip?"

"Hoy Brendan."

The proffered hand pulled Brendan to his feet.

"What are you doing here?"

The answer was a hug. A great, powerful hug that held Brendan close and went on and on. Brendan liked hugs. One time when he asked Robin why she gave him so many she said it was because they were both physical.
'Physical' became one of the words between them after that, and if one of them said it there was an instant hug.
This hug was different, not the short, happy little burst of smiles that he used to get from Robin, but a stronger, close feeling, that got stronger as it kept going.

"I thought you must be here. ...So? ...You had a bad night?"

When Brendan tensed a little as he wondered what Phillip knew, the hug tightened as if to say it was okay.

"Sort of."

"Well, this morning I was wondering where you were, and Martin turned up."

Now Brendan really did tense.

"What did he say?"

"He was pathetic.
He wanted me to give him $5000 and a few other things or he'd tell people that you and I were gay and having sex."

Brendan stared, shocked at the $5000, but Phillip had a smile.

"I didn't know you were gay and I didn't know why he'd think I was. I certainly didn't know we'd been having sex, so I said he was being stupid. He didn't like that and showed me the files on the downstairs computer. That's when I realised it was more than him just being an idiot, because he'd been prying into my computer - and having those pictures of you was an even bigger shock."

"You saw them?"

"Yes, a few of them. I had to, to get at the files that were copied from upstairs. Let's sit down."

Brendan would have liked to keep hugging, but sitting against the tree with their shoulders touching still had a close feeling.

"That's when I got heavy with him and made him look up blackmail on the Internet. He tried to say he was just trying to get money I owed him."

Brendan couldn't understand that.

"You owe him money?"

"Yes, instead of the $40 he paid me, the rent is $70 at his new place and that's my fault according to his logic. I made him explain how he got into my computer and that's when it came out he was making you do things. I threatened him with the police if he didn't tell me what was going on. I got really angry but when he said you'd been at his mate's place last night for a strip party I forgot him and worried about you. I let him know how much trouble he could be in then kicked him out and came looking."

Phillip used his shoulder to nudge against Brendan's.

"That's what I'm doing here. Hoping my friend is all right."

"I'm all right... Sort of. But what if Martin spreads those stories about us and you lose your job?"

"There's no law against being gay Brendan, not any more, and we haven't done any sex with each other."

He made a little laugh and nudged again.

"Have we? It must have been awfully quick if we did, because I didn't notice."

Brendan relaxed because of the joke and even managed to respond in kind.

"I didn't either.. Are you really gay?"

"Yes, I'm really gay. What about you?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Both of us... And both of us not telling each other. How did Martin find out about you?"

"I drank too much and told him and Robin. She was great, and we talked about it a lot before she went to Western Australia."

"You can talk to me now. Hey, we can talk to each other."

"Martin wasn't too bad at the start either, till he found out I liked you."

"Liked me? He always knew that... Oh... You mean physically?"

Brendan's face went red and it was a scary moment as he nodded. He'd thought Phillip already knew that from Martin, and watched his reaction carefully. It was surprise, then one arm reached across Brendan's shoulders for a quick hug.

"That makes me feel special Brendan."

Phillip crawled to the day pack resting where he'd been standing when Brendan opened his eyes, dragged it back and took out a can of drink and a big block of chocolate.

"Hungry?"

Brendan was starving. All he'd had was a quick bowl of cereal when he reached home.

"Not really."

This was familiar territory. Phillip always teased him about his appetite.

"Okay, I'll eat it all then."

"Don't you dare."

Brendan grabbed for the chocolate, missed, and when it was held out of his reach tried successfully for the drink. The shakeup in the tussle meant that fizz went all over the place when he popped the top.

"Grub, leave some for me."

"What for? If you're eating all the chocolate, I get all the drink."

"Okay."

Now Brendan was laughing. Phillip knew he was a chocoholic and there was no way he would miss out. Phillip sat the chocolate on top of the pack.

"If you can beat me you can have it."

It only took a minute for an unconvincingly weak Phillip to have Brendon sitting on his stomach and claiming the victor's prize.

"All right, but wait a minute."

Brendan grabbed Phillip's arms and pressed them onto the soil to emphasise his superior strength, fake though it was.

"Thirty seconds. ...What?"

"Brendan, it's the same for me."

That didn't match up with eating chocolate.

"What is?"

"The.. ah.. The physical attraction."

It took a moment to process and another moment of incredulity before Brendan realised that Phillip was watching his reactions closely, the same way he himself had watched several minutes earlier. Brendan didn't know what to say, then worked out the perfect answer.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about it. It makes me feel special."

Brendan reached for the chocolate, partially peeled the wrapper, snapped off a five portion bar and stuffed one end of it into Phillip's mouth.

"That's your share. The rest is mine."

Phillip's mouth was munching and too full to make any reply. Another bar snapped off and Brendan started his own munching.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Elementary my dear Watson. The first thing I did was ring your mobile, and when you didn't answer I rang the farm. Lucas saw you ride off on his bike so that made me think that wherever you were going must be too far to walk. It had to be here.
Why did you come out here?"

Brendan knew that Phillip was really asking why he hadn't gone to see him.

"I had to work out what to do after last night and I thought the tree might help me be stronger. I was coming to see you -- but I was so tired I fell asleep."

"Martin called it a strip party. Did that mean you?"

"It was a lot more than that."

"More? Do you want to talk about it?"

Brendan did want to talk. Before he'd dozed off that was exactly what he'd decided to do.

"Brian's mate Ben got some Viagra from the Internet and they put one of the pills into my drink. Then I had to take all my clothes off so they could see me when the Viagra worked. In the end I had to ...Um.. Masturbate in front of them."

"Oh My God."

That made Brendan smile. Phillip never used to say that before Robin turned up. Phillip went to sit up but Brendan stopped him. Somehow, this position gave him a feeling of control that made it easy to say whatever he liked. He explained about having to wear the cock band thing and Ben playing with his dick and groping his balls and then Martin taking his necklace when he passed out. Phillip was aghast when he heard that, even though it didn't happen, oral sex for the three guys had been part of the agenda.

"What do you want to do Brendan? That's rape, making you have sex against your will."

Brendan didn't want to do anything and he was most definite about it. Being free of Martin's plans and manipulations was all he cared about, and if he went to the police it would go on for ages with interviews and all sorts of people being involved.

"Um.. Brendan.. Let's go to the bridge to get a drink."

Brendan was puzzled. The way Phillip asked sounded a bit strange, and he looked awkward too.

"What?"

"Let's go."

When they stood up Phillip made a quick sort of adjustment to his shorts. Brendan caught the movement and understood.
Phillip did like him.
Five minutes later, after they'd scrambled down beside the bridge and had a drink of the cool water, they again sat in the cleared spot at the base of the tree.

"We can't just let them get away with it Brendan."

Brendan pushed him down and sat on his stomach again.

"It's easier to talk like this."

"So you noticed did you?"

"Noticed what?"

"Never mind. What about Martin? I think you should front him."

"Me? I don't want to have anything to do with him ever."

"Well you'll have to face him at least once. He's got your clothes hasn't he?"

"Yes, and my mobile phone and my wallet. ...You could get them for me."

Phillip gave a questioning look.

"Are you nervous of them?"

"No way, they can all get stuffed as far as I'm concerned."

"Good, well it should be you who goes, so they don't think they've got something over you. I think it would be good for you too, ..standing up for yourself I mean."

Brendan could see the sense in that.

"What would I say?"

"You've got some good weapons. They'd be in big trouble if you wanted them to be, and there's the stealing evidence against Martin. ...Are you going to sit on me all day?"

"Yes, while we're talking."

"I need another drink of water."

"No you don't. You didn't even need it last time."

"I see. Looks like we don't have to worry about emotional trauma or counselling then?"

"Counselling? About last night?"

"About it all Brendan. You're acting putting normal, for you I mean. You're not upset and hiding it underneath are you?"

"I was crying this morning when I thought I was trapped by Martin and it would just keep going on and getting worse, but then I started thinking properly and I remembered Brian and Ben talking about you being gay. It meant I'd been stupid to think that Martin would keep his word and I should have talked to you as soon as he knew. I was coming to see you and then it was like the tree had done magic when I opened my eyes and you were there. What do you mean I'm acting normal? I'm always normal."

"Yes, always giving me a hard time. So why did you tell Martin you liked me?"

"Fancied you, is how Martin says it, except when he's being crude. He got me drinking and found out I had dreams with you in them."

"Oh my, it seems like every time you were drinking you said too much.

Brendan didn't say anything to that. Phillip didn't mind him drinking but he hated it when he got drunk.

"What am I going to say to Martin?"

They worked it out and Phillip was most impressed with Brendan's idea of putting pressure on Martin by making him responsible for keeping the other two quiet, and of telling Brian his father would find out what happened if the other two said anything.

"His father mightn't care."

"He would. Martin used to talk about how strict Brian's father was and how Brian used to get around his rules."

"We should go. It'll be nearly three o'clock by the time we get back to the town.

***

"What happened? I thought you were going to break the door down."

"I know. I just kept bashing till they answered.
It went really well. As soon as they opened the door I said they had to get my things or I'd ring the police. Ben started to laugh but Martin knew I meant it and raced off. I yelled at Brian and Ben then and told them I was writing down everything that happened and I'd give it to Brian's father if they came anywhere near me. I started out acting angry but it ended up real. Martin came back and tried to say it was all a stupid joke."

"He said that this morning too."

"Anyway I told the others to go away because Martin was the cause of it all. Then I told him we had proof about him stealing the lens and he had to keep the others quiet about us being gay. He didn't believe it at first but when I said he'd been identified at the pawn shop he looked really scared."

Brendan did feel good about it. He'd been nervous when he was approaching the door but that disappeared as soon as he'd started thumping with his fist.



END OF CHAPTER 5.

I hope you've gained some enjoyment from this story.
Any comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
My email address is iarwain@aanet.com.au
Alternative address, iarwain7@ains.net.au
Should you be interested, my other stories can be found by looking under 'Iarwain' in the authors section on Nifty.
Iarwain.