Disclaimer: This work is of pure fiction and any resemblance of the characters and settings to real life persons, events, circumstances, etc. is purely coincidental. This work involves the workings of love between consenting characters of teenage years and some stuff you might find offensive. If you are not a fan of this kind of literature, please proceed somewhere else. You know who you are and you should know whether or not to read this stuff. Think about the legal, moral and all those other shitty lines you might be crossing. This is not a quick jack off story.

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A/N: This is another little piece of work that's been on my mind. Well, it's supposed to be another series I'm working on.

Copyright kkrimson 2013


~Measuring Love~
* * * (Chapter 1)* * *
Measuring a Boy


He was young. Twelve years old young. Yet he knew what love means. It meant yearning for the holidays and waiting for the school bell to signal the end of his suffering and the start of his summer adventures. He was young, but not that young to still believe in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. But he loved painting Easter eggs and finding a dollar bill under his pillow and tearing through his presents.

Love meant all things wonderful in the world. It wasn't a handful to carry. It was light as a feather and warm to hold. It was music to his ears as his mom always uttered his name with a sweet sound at the end; Oliver, but `Oli' always sounded more endearing when it was her saying it. It was his mom's kisses and his dad's patience. It was a sugary scent that lingered in the air for everyone to breathe in. It tasted like honey in his mouth as his pink wet tongue savoured every delightful drop. It meant sharing his prized blue crayon with the weird kid who coloured the sky black. It meant lots of things. But as things were in his eyes, they were very much limited to what he saw.

It wasn't a surprise then that when another young boy, about his age, transferred to his school that he noticed the lack of love in him. His name was Dashawn. The new boy's presence felt cold as he took the desk to his right. His eyes were blank and his mouth, unmoving. There was no single visible hint of any brewing emotion on his face. It was rightly ironic with his name as it sounded more like `dash-on', but the boy looked unwilling to dash on with his feelings. Except for one. There was just sadness surrounding him.

Days later, having found enough courage to strike up a conversation, Oli only felt more compelled to know more about Dash (he took it upon himself to call him that) as he turned down Oli's offer at being friends. Dash's personal space was a whole lot wider than necessary, but Oli wasn't intimidated by the wired fences surrounding it. Besides, he felt confident that it wasn't rigged with electricity. Or if it was, he knew that he'll find the off-switch in no time.

At lunch, while seated with his two best friends, Gabe and Anthony, Oli's eyes always drifted toward the far corner of the cafeteria where Dash sat alone. His table looked really unwelcoming as he distastefully picked through his food. Oli's attention was no longer in tune to his friends, but fell on the mysterious boy's mop of auburn hair. He was far too intriguing in Oli's curious set of indigo eyes.

"Oli! Hey, Oliver! Are you even listening?" Gabe waved a hand at Oli's face.

"Yeah,' he offered a short response, not bothering to turn his ears back to his friends.

The next school week brought in no progress at all as Oli still hadn't closed the distance between him and Dash. `It was time for desperate measures,' Oli thought. By Friday afternoon, he set out to follow Dash home. He left his friends, saying that he forgot something in his locker, and went to look for Dash. Luck was by his side as it took him no time to spot the lone figure walking down the sidewalk in the direction opposite of his home. He trailed behind discreetly, not wanting to be found out. The distance between him and Dash fit one school bus with a little more space left for a mini cooper. When Dash would turn a corner, he would silently jog to catch up and stopped before turning the same corner. He hid behind some tree or bush or fence first, with his head sticking out to see where Dash was headed. After a while, he went back to trailing his object of interest, maintaining the same distance as before.

On the last corner turn, Oli was surprised to see no one walking ahead. He jumped out from his hiding place and looked around, walking aimlessly as his eyes wandered. `Where the hell did he go,' he thought. He turned around in disclosure as he heard a rustling sound. The answer to his question stood well before him, looking very pissed.

"Stop following me," Dash's voice was controlled, but he looked annoyed.

"I wasn't following you," Oli said in defence. "I, uh, live around here."

"I know where you live, dumbass." Dash sounded amused.

Oli, on the other hand, could only think of one thing, `How the heck did Dash know where I live?' It was just impossible because Dash only transferred to their school recently. And they weren't friends – yet. And Oli couldn't remember having known Dash from a long time ago. Or maybe he was friends with Dash back when they were really young and he might have forgotten the time or times that he invited Dash over. But that was just another impossible thing. Oli was good with remembering faces. And he couldn't place Dash's face anywhere in his memory.

"How do you know where I live?" Oli asked.

"I know lots of things. One of them is that you are a fucking stalker," Dash spit out as he walked past Oli, intentionally bumping his shoulder hard. "Don't follow."

"Hey! I'm not a fucking stalker. You're the fucking stalker `coz you know where I live!" Oli shouted at Dash's back. He received no answer, not even a grunt or shrug, so he just sighed and caught up with the other boy. "Wait up for a sec!"

In a few strides, Oli was casually walking along with Dash. Dash didn't seem to mind. Well, he was just ignoring Oli totally. The two of them walked silently, neither had anything to say. But Oli could only keep quiet for so long.

"Hey, how do you know where I live?" Oli asked again, looking at Dash. He was met with silence once more so he let out a frustrated breath, stopped for a second and jumped in front of Dash. This caused the other boy to step back a bit and let out a `What the fuck' in the process.

"Dash! C'mon dude. I just wanna be friends." Oli flashed him a grin, showing his straight white teeth. He offered his hand for a handshake, but it was only met by the gentle touch of the breeze.

"Who said I want to be your friend? And who said you could call me `Dash'?" Dash was getting more annoyed by the second. He desperately needed to get home or else.

"I do. And you don't have a choice," Oli answered with his arm still stretched in front of him. "It won't kill you to have a friend."

"Right. I'll just have to kill you then," Dash said coldly. His threat sounded genuine. But who in their right mind would kill someone who wanted to be friends with you? Unless in a whole other situation. But that's another story.

"It'll take more than death to stop me!" Oli declared. He didn't mind the heaviness that his arm felt. He was getting that handshake for all its worth.

"What the fuck do you want?" Dash's voice was low and his eyes narrowed at Oli. He didn't have time for any of this nonsense.

"I told you already! You. Me. Friends." Oli stretched his arm out a bit farther toward Dash.

"Why me? There are lots of other kids out there who could stand how annoying you are." Dash moved to his left in hopes of sidestepping Oli, but he was met by the other boy sidestepping that way as well. He moved to his right in another failed attempt. He was ready to run for it, but he didn't want to look like a wuss running away from an outstretched hand attached to a grinning boy.

"Why not you. Besides. I wanna measure you." Oli's grin was still plastered on his face. The breeze blew through his unruly sun-kissed hair. His golden eyelashes danced above his sincere indigo eyes.

"You what?" Dash was suddenly confused with what Oli said. `Measure what now?' he thought. He hoped that what Oli wanted to measure wasn't the same thing that his mind pictured. Why would anyone want to measure his dick? And why would anyone just say that out loud in an open neighbourhood without much of a concern?

"Dude, are you gay?" Dash questioned, keeping his voice only loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"What? No! What makes you think that?" Oli finally withdrew his hand and shook both arms wildly in front of him, with his head exaggerating his loud `NO'.

"Uh, you wanna measure me. As in, me..." Dash pointed subtly down to his crotch, emphasising his point.

"What? Eww! Why would I wanna do that?" Oli was barely keeping their conversation between themselves. And he really didn't want to measure Dash there. He meant another thing. A whole different thing. Not the other boy's dick. Although, that would seem fun. But, no! Just no.

"Well, what exactly do you wanna measure?" Dash questioned. He was glad that Oli meant another thing. But he also felt a bit disappointed that Oli's reaction to the gay word was no less than pure disgust. He admitted to himself that he was gay a long time ago, back when he was ten. Back when he was... Yeah, well, he didn't want to talk about it so just go figure.

"You wanna know?" Oli sounded excited. He felt his heart do a small flip as he finally got Dash's curiosity. His grin came back and his eyes flickered with delight. "I'll tell you on one condition," he added.

"I don't have time for this." Dash started walking, successfully sidestepping Oli this time. But Oli's hand on his right shoulder stopped him.

"I'll tell you, okay? Just be friends with me." Oli was feeling desperate. He didn't want Dash to just walk away after having successfully inched a bit through the wired fences around the other boy. Like he thought, it wasn't rigged with electricity. In fact, the wired fences were really easy to bend and break. They only looked tough and no more than that. Now, if only he could get the rest of his body through the wires.

"Fine. But don't go around weirding me out at school. And no, I won't sit with you at lunch." Dash knew he broke an important rule in his book as he let Oli get a bit closer to him. But the other boy's persistence just got the best of him and the weakest link on the wired fence around him. He soon regretted not having it rigged with electricity. Well, there's no point in sulking about it now.

"Oh yeah! You won't regret this!" Oli slipped an inch more of his body through the wires as he put his arm around Dash. The other boy stiffened, but Oli was overcome with so much joy to notice.

"Somehow, I do." Dash forcefully removed himself from Oli's hold. He put on a serious face and looked at the smiling teen. "So what was it you wanted to measure?"

"You. Not you down there. You...uh...you." Oli traced Dash's outline with his hand, forming gentle curves as he drew out the other boy's waist and slender legs. "Get it?"

"The whole of me? You wanna know how tall I am?" Dash knew that what Oli meant was different. But, somehow, he liked making a fool out of the other boy who just seemed so naïve.

"Uh, hello? I'm talking figuratively here. Do you have to be so literal all the time?" Oli was having a bit of difficulty telling Dash exactly what it was that he wanted to measure. But come on. Figuratively speaking, anyone could get that. He wanted to measure Dash as a whole; as a person; and as someone who, maybe, just maybe... Yeah, he definitely wanted to measure that.

"Not my fault you don't know how to speak normal." Dash started walking again. He let Oli catch up this time and acknowledged his presence. Who wouldn't? With that bright tousled hair, deep and soulful sapphire eyes, cherry coloured lips and tanned skin. Well, no, Oli wasn't tanned. But one could imagine him to be as perfect as that. If you want to settle for the truth, his skin was actually porcelain, like every other kid that never did much swimming in the warm summer sun. Except for his hair, the sun kissed no other part of his prepubescent body.

"If speaking normal means to be so boring, I'd rather not." Oli had a small smile on his face. He congratulated himself internally, successfully befriending Dash. He looked at the other boy who was keen on walking in a hurry with an uneasy expression drawn on his light coloured face. His curly mass of auburn hair bounced with every step he took. Oli narrowed his eyes, filtering away the sunlight, to look more closely at the other boy. He noticed the deep brown eyes from its corner that flickered with fear every now and then and the tight pressed hearty lips.

"Oliver, I've to go home now. So leave." Dash demanded. He didn't want Oli to come over to his house. That would certainly spell disaster for him. He didn't want Oli to find out. He didn't want to be judged.

"I could just drop by your house for ..." Oli didn't quite finish when Dash cut in.

"No. You can't. You want to be friends, right? I suggest you don't follow me any further or I won't talk to you ever again," Dash said with finality. "I mean it. I'll know when you keep following me."

"Okay, okay. I won't." Oli didn't want to push on further. He didn't want to risk this newly made friendship because of his stubbornness. "So, we're really friends, huh. Cool. Wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Sure, whatever," Dash gave in. He was supposed to be home by now. He didn't want to keep on arguing over something so trivial and waste more precious time.

"You know where I live, right? Come after breakfast, okay? We'll have the whole day to ourselves!" Oli exclaimed as he opened his arms out wide.

Dash nodded and continued walking, leaving Oli behind. His house was just around the corner, third one to his right. He stopped momentarily as Oli called out to him.

"Bye Dash! See you tomorrow. And, oh, I haven't told you my name earlier so how do you know? Never mind. You know lots of things, right?" Oli waved at Dash, waiting for a reply. Instead of getting one, Dash just walked on. Oli didn't mind. As long as they were definitely friends now. He turned around and started on his long way home as well.

Dash turned the corner after making sure that he was not followed anymore. He looked over to Oli and saw his shrinking figure in the distance. He sighed, relieved that he got over the whole exchange unscathed. Except for the unintended intrusion in his life, he was glad Oli never got as far as he feared. He wanted to keep it that way. He wasn't going to let anyone in at any single point of his life. There had already been too much penetration as it was. He felt himself wince thinking about those unpleasant memories. He wanted to repress them completely, but he couldn't easily forget the pain.

Stopping in front of the door to his house, Dash switched on his stealth mode. He carefully placed each step he took as he silently pushed the door open. He held his breath, fearful as he was. `Good, no sound,' he thought. `Just one more step and...' Suddenly, the intrusive and mocking creak of the floorboard announced his arrival. His heart stopped, worry drawn on his face. He held on the knob tightly as he waited for something he quite expected to happen. As it was, nothing came. A few more seconds and still not one thing. He slipped through the small gap he made, careful not to cause any more unnecessary sounds. Once inside, he shut the door behind him, turning the knob before it ever clicked as it locked. Finally, he silently let out a long held breath. This still wasn't the end, though, as he looked to his right where the unwelcoming stairs connected to the second floor. Still in stealth mode, he breathed in once again and moved to conquer the eight-step climb.

`This is too easy,' Dash thought as he found himself safely on the second floor hallway. The only thing left was to cover the short distance to his room. He knew which noisy floorboard to avoid as he skipped carefully past them. He was standing in front of his bedroom door in no time. He pushed the door open, went in, locked it and walked over to his bed where he dropped dead. Stealth mode was a success. He smiled to himself, looking up toward his ceiling. He thought of Oli and his grin. The other boy's smile was just so wonderful to see. He closed his eyes and engraved the picture on his mind. Just then, he heard a loud and slow thumping of shoes from the hallway outside. `This is it,' he thought. Things were never too easy in his life.

Dash pushed himself off the bed and went to his bedroom door. The loud noise stopped as a shadow crept in from the gap below. He opened the door and was met with his worst fear.

"Hi ..." Dash never got to finish as he was shoved inside. The intruder went it as well and closed the door. His nightmare was about to begin.

Back at home, and sprawled carelessly on his bed, Oli had a big smile on his face as he reached down under his bed and took out some sort of notebook. He flipped through the radiantly coloured pages, some with drawings of unearthly creatures and some with scribbles of vague origin and meaning. He stopped on a page with badly written poetry etched on it with a dull pencil. It read:


Measure love, measure it
Inch by inch, bit by bit
But with what do you measure?
Not with a ruler, I'm sure
Can you weigh how heavy it is?
Or is it as light as mist
Mom said it can't be done
No one can, not one
Dad said it's limitless
Much like how God exists
But I don't believe them
Maybe I can measure its rhythm
The beating of my heart
Looking at him, it starts
I put my hand over it, counting
But it just goes thump-thump-thumping
It's nonsense, I know
I wanted to know how far it goes
It was a dead end, yet again
It keeps beating to no end
Only one thing left to do
Kisses, oh, I tell you
I'll count how many I can give
And see how many I receive
I'll measure love this time
If I can make his heart mine
I hope not to disappoint
If I measure love by measuring a boy.

Oli held so much pride in his prose. He knew that he could write very well if he willed himself to. With his mother being a teacher in creative writing, it was rather easy to learn how to express with written art. Looking over the piece once again, he was well aware of its lack of any particular title. He reached toward the table by his bed and got his marker, placing its end at the bottom of his lip. Running some carefully drafted words in his head, he searched for the one thing that meant every line of his poem. He smiled sweetly as he drew out the perfect title. Right above the first line was a short horizontal line in blue ink. A hyphen, one might call it. But it was more than just that.


~ End of Chapter ~


Well here's another piece I've begun working on. Hope you enjoy. I've officially tasked myself to updating two stories per week, at the least. Well, it's not much of a work. Besides, it's fun to write. Don't forget to drop me some messages. Send me your thoughts here: krispykrimson@gmail.com

Next chapter: Measuring His Own

With love and always wishing you the best,
kkrimson.